An Unwanted Person
by 444teme444
Summary: Since life for the Freemans had become much duller lately, it made sense that things would become hectic once again. This time it would take the form of a young and very strange new addtion to the family.
1. Chapter 1

Boondocks

An Unwanted Person – Chapter 1

_Huey's voice_

_On the morning of February 2__nd__, my family began the day the same as nearly every other day. Granddad woke up late after having vivid wet dreams about famous super models. Later he began his usual ritual of complaining about the lack of progress Barack Obama had made in improving the daily lives of the common black man since his election to president. Despite this however he is still adamant on seeing Obama remain president rather than Mitt Rooney. _

Granddad was sitting in his chair watching Mitt Rooney's latest speech.

"And I promise if elected President, I will improve the lives of the common American man… except for the blacks."

_My brother Riley had been spending his days thinking of new ways to improve his street grad. His most recent endeavour involved trying to get a tattoo of himself as a pimp with three hoes across his back to signify his manhood and to let bitches know who was in charge. However this plan failed for several reasons, the most prominent being that Granddad wouldn't afford to get him a tattoo and that he lost his nerve after he witnessed an overweight white man get the American flag tattooed across his ass._

Riley stood outside the window of the tattoo parole, watching in both horror and disgust as the fat man took off his pants and stuck his ass out for the guy with needle. Riley promptly ran away as soon as the screaming started.

_I was spending most of my time by myself. I had been avoiding Riley lately, as I had grown weary of our continuous stand offs and arguments that led to real closure. I was also getting tired of Jasmines attempts at solicitation with me. While she had become more bearable over time, I still feel as though I have no one I can talk to._

"Hey Huey" said Jasmine standing at the door of Huey's room. "What to hang out?"

Huey gave her his usual blank stare before responding. "No". He then slammed the door less than an inch from her face.

_However what we didn't know was that our lives were about to take an unexpected… and very unwanted turn._

"I'm coming, im coming!" yelled Robert Freemen as the doorbell continued to ring. "Man if y'all be them Jehovah's Witnesses again im gonna get my shotgun on ya".

When he finally opened the door he was initially confused when he saw no one in front of him, until he looked down to see a young white boy around the same age as Huey and Riley, with brown curly hair and big red duffel bag over his shoulder.

The boy pulled out what seemed to be a match that he was chewing from his mouth to speak. "What up. You going to take my bag?"

"Take you what?" said Granddad in surprise as he had no idea who this boy was.

"My bag" the boy restated. "You deaf old man or are you one of them senile bastards that don't remember the difference between shitting and pissing?"

"I heard what you said! What you haven't said yet is who the hell are ya boy!"

The little white boy simply pulled out a letter from his back pocket and handed it to Granddad. The boy then walked passed Granddad as he read the letter and entered the house. He causally strolled into the kitchen to where Huey was sitting, reading as usual. He took a sit at the table next to Huey and began to eat a sandwich that was left on a plate. Huey looked up from his book to watch as the complete stranger ate his brothers sandwich. The boy cast Huey a quick glance.

"Hey" he said.

"Hey" replied Huey. After a moment of silence Huey spoke again. "Who are you?"

"Michael Ringer"

"What are doing here?"

"Eating a sandwich"

"I see that" replied Huey accepting the clarification given.

"Yo what the hell is this man?" Huey turned to see his younger brother Riley walk back into the kitchen and come up to the table. "Who the fuck is this nigga?"

"Michael Ringer" answered Huey.

"Why's he eating my sandwich man?"

"Hungry" said Michael.

"Where this nigga come from?" demanded Riley, still addressing Huey.

"My dad's balls and yo mamas pussy" said Michael, who was still munching away at the sandwich.

"Aw hell no nigga. You come up into my house and you eat my sandwich and talk bout my mama. I'm bout to whoop your ass nigga!"

"Look let's not get off on the wrong foot here" said Michael in a seemingly apologetic tone of voice. "If you really want the sandwich back, you can just wait a couple of hours and I'll shit it back out for ya"

Riley now started to get really angry and looked ready to fight with the newcomer Michael who appeared neither threatened nor intimidated. At that moment however Granddad came into the kitchen, still holding the letter in his hand,

"Boys" he began. "This here's Michael Ringer. He's the stepson of my cousin Josh."

"Why is he here?" asked Huey

"Well Josh just passed away last month and according to his will Michael is gonna be living with us now"

"What? Aw that's bullshit" said Riley.

"Why did cousin Josh want him to live with us?" asked Huey

"Apparently Michael here has no other immediate family and that we were the best choice of caretakers"

"If that's the case his other options must have been very unattractive"

"Yeah well Josh and I weren't that close, but he was always doing this kind of shit to me. Dumping his problems on me and then running out before I could give them back. One time he stole a car and left in my garage. Didn't even tell me it was stolen either. I actually drove that car on a date when the popo came up and started beating my ass. Of course back then any black man driving a car would get his ass kicked but it'd be a lot worse if it _was_ actually stolen car, then they get use the tasers on ya. Man I swear if Josh weren't dead I'd hunt him down and kill him myself"

"If you did that then he would still have sent his stepson to live with us" said Huey

"I take it you're the smart one around here" said Michael.

"That's fucking extortion man" said Riley. "Niggas write stuffs in them wills without asking us nigga first, then they up and die on us and now we's gots to look after their niggas. This is entrapment!"

"Boy I'm the one who should be complaining!" said Granddad in angry. "Now I got another mouth to feed. Bad enough you two already eat all my food as it is. Probably have to ration what I give you from now on. When I was your age, we were lucky to get so much as half a biscuit and cup of water."

"Where's my bedroom?" asked Michael after had polished off Riley's sandwich.

"You can have the guestroom for now" said Granddad.

"All ight that's it man" said Riley who had enough. "This nigga aint even been here two seconds, he takes my sandwich and now gets his own room. What next Granddad you gonna let him have my CD player too? Or you gonna call up some of hoes for him? Man you don't love us at all Granddad else you'd be kicking this nigga out of here"

Michael now got off his seat and tried to walk out of the kitchen but Riley blocked his path.

"Listen here nigga" he began. "If you be staying here now, then you gots to know things work around here. You touch my shit again or get up in my face and I'll beat yo ass so bad you-"

Whatever Riley was going to say next was lost, as the only words that came out of his mouth next were "Ow" and "Fuck man". Michael had delivered an extremely fast quick jab to Riley's face that was enough to knock him back. As Riley clutched his nose, Michael grabbed him by the hair and slammed his head onto the kitchen table. Riley lay motionless on the ground, moaning about how Michael was a crazy ass nigga, while Granddad and Huey simply looked on at the scene, unsure of how to process it. Michael pulled out another match from his pocket and put the back end of it into his mouth.

"Ass pussy" he scoffed. He then picked up his duffel bag and left the kitchen.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_It had been less than an hour since Michael Ringer had arrived into our home and already he had left a deep impression upon all of us._

"Man that nigga on some crazy shit, beating up niggas like that without provocation. I say we call Obama up in here and take this nigga to court."

Both Riley and Huey were sitting on opposite ends of the couch in the living room, while Granddad was pacing in front of them, re-reading the letter once again. Riley now had small bandage across his nose and a large bruise was beginning to show on his forehead.

"Riley" Huey began, "You're the one who was trying to intimidate him. He was merely asserting his own dominance."

"Yo he got the jump on me" retorted Riley. "And what did you do nigga? Just sit let him beat your own brothers ass and then let him walk off? Man why didn't you thrown some of that Kung Fu exploding heart bullshit?"

"Thought you could handle it" said Huey in one of his rare moment of humour.

"Hush up! The both of ya!" Granddad had finally stopped his pacing and was looking at the letter once again.

"Look it says here that we are legally Michael's new guardians. I don't how Josh got this to work for him, probably forged my signature again. Now I'm gonna call Jennifer, my second cousin and try to sort this mess out but in the meantime that boy is staying with us so be nice."

"How did Josh die?" asked Huey.

"Uh just old age that man was 98 years old" said Granddad.

"Granddad don't you think it's strange that a 98 year old man would have a nine year old step son?"

"Well one thing about Josh was that he always seemed to find a cutie pie from out of nowhere. He didn't even so much as walk down the street without at least two white women on his arm. But the weirdest thing was he kept marrying every women he every dated. Shoot by the time he was thirty he had already been married at least 24 times."

"How did he keep marrying different women all the time?"

"Well he cheated on every one of his wives after he married them so they just divorced him. Plus he married most of them in Vegas."

"So he exchanged vows of holy matrimony with someone and then just cheat on them the next day?" said Huey, failing to see any logic in that.

"Josh thought a relationship would be more meaningful if he was cheating on a woman while he was with another woman. Of course he always said that when he had a child of his own, he would never cheat again. Betraying and destroying the live of beautiful young woman is one thing, but he couldn't bring himself to do that to an innocent child."

"Did he ever have any children?"

"Hell no. He made dame sure he'd never have his own kid else he'd have to stay with one woman. He had every kind of protection imaginable. Condoms, diaphragms, he even had a vasectomy once a year"

"But turns out when he met Michael's mother, she was already eight months pregnant, but even she didn't know that. The women had actually run six marathons just two weeks before she had to give birth(1). After she won, she and Josh got hitched, but then they found that she was pregnant the next day. She died later during the labour. Josh was happy though cos now he had a loophole to keep marrying and cheating for as long as he liked even with a kid."

"So just call up one of them other hoes and get them to take care of him" said Riley.

"Cant. For some reason they all got a restraining order against both Josh and Michael"

"Why would they do that?" asked Huey

"I don't know. All I know is that poor boy upstairs is all alone in this world and have to do what family does and -Do you smell smoke?" asked Granddad mid-sentence. At that exact moment the fire alarm went off upstairs. Everybody rushed up the stairs to see Michael leaning against the wall outside the guest room chewing another match stick. Smoke was rising from under the door. Granddad opened it to see that the guest bed had been set on fire.

"Oh Lordy, Lordy Lord" screamed Granddad. Huey quickly ran down stairs to retrieve the fire extinguish and ran back up to put out the fire as fast as he could. By the time he was done, the bed had been completely destroyed and the rest of the room looked no better.

* * *

Michael was slouching back on the couch as Granddad bore down on him.

"What in the hell is wrong with you boy! You trying to burn my house down?"

"No" he replied. "I was only gonna to burn down a _small_ part of your house. There's a key difference in it."

"Why the fuck would you go and do some crazy shit like that?"

"Cos an arsonist by definition likes to start fires". Michael pulled out another match and lit against the couch. He nonchalantly started twirling it between his fingers, without getting burned. "Pff stupid old man"

"An arsonist? You nine years old! What the hell you an arsonist for?"

"Cos that's_ what_ I am. I know that. Not many kids my age can say they know who they are. And I don't need to explain that to nobody. You've been on this earth how many years old man? Do you have even the slightest idea who or what _you_ are?

"_Im_ bout beat your little ass boy!"

Granddad removed his belt and crack like a whip in the air. Michael raised his hand up in defence.

"Whoa, whoa, I don't swing that way. If that's your scene head to the church man."

"I aint no dame pervert. You think I'd do some sick shit like that? I just took my belt off so I beat yo ass down with it."

"Oh I see so you into S&M". At this Riley let out a loud laugh.

"Aw man his right Granddad you been whipping us all the time just like them dominatrix freaks! Haha. What next, you get us in some bondage!?"

"Shut up boy you getting a turn after this one!"

"Granddad" said Huey. "I don't think beaten anyone here is the best solution. It obvious Michael has issues about his situation."

"No I don't'" said Michael very blankly, but he was ignored.

"Look just call your cousin Jennifer and we'll see if we can work this out".

Granddad gave Huey an angry look, before sighing. "Fine"

He then put his belt away and walked into the hallway to make the phone call to his cousin.

After Granddad left Michael stood up and walked over to the coffee table. He took out another match and lit against the table. He was about lower the match down again when Huey grabbed his wrist.

"Don't"

Michael held his arm in place as he stared Huey down. The atmosphere had become tense, as it didn't seem like Michael was the least bit hesitant to challenge Huey next. After a few seconds the match had almost burned itself to the bottom. Michael dropped it to the ground just it before it reached his fingers. As soon as it hit the ground, Huey smothered it with his shoe. Neither he nor Michael had broken eye contact for the whole exchange.

"All right I'll relent" said Michael, with a small smile. Huey released his wrist and watched him carefully as he took his seat back on the couch. Riley cracked a huge grin across his face.

"You just got served bitch!"

* * *

"Look Jennifer this has to be some sort of mistake. I never agreed to be the caretaker for anybody"

"Uh huh, uh huh"

"Well then what about this will man. I was never even there for the reading or got any heads up. The kid just showed up at my door step".

"Uh huh, uh huh"

"What do mean the will said I wasn't supposed to know anything? That some ol bullshit. I might just send him straight back to you and…what? You're going to Europe? You got all of Josh's money? Well when will you be back? Never? Oh come you can't leave me we this kid. It's bad enough with the two I have; now I got a damn arsonist under my roof. He almost burned the house! Jennifer please I….

That was all he could say before she hung the phone up. Granddad let out a weak moan as he now was truly trapped.

Back in the living room, Huey and Riley were keeping a close eye on Michael in case he tried anything else. Right now he seemed content to watch the TV. Huey finally took his eyes off Michael when Granddad entered the room.

"How'd it go?"

"We stuck with this kid for now. There's nobody I can send him to. But there's gonna be new rules from now on" He walked in between the TV and Michael.

"Now look here boy. You living we us from now on, so here's how this will work. While you stay here you aint gonna set anything else on fire. You don't go near anything that's flammable and you also aint keeping any of that arsonists stuff on yourself, so empty out your pockets."

Michael didn't look as though he would object to these terms. He stood up and pulled at least a dozen packets of match books from his pockets. He also pulled out five different lighters, a can of lighter fluid, some bug spray and somehow a two liter drum of gasoline.

Granddad gathered up all the contents and dumped inside a plastic bag. "Now since you destroyed the guest room, you have to share your bedroom with Huey and Riley.

"Aw come on man" said Riley. "You expect us to share a room with this arson nigga. What if he sets our room on fire? What then Granddad? We get killed and you take all the insurance? This was yo plan all along wasn't. You never even loved us did you?

"Shut up boy" said Granddad. "And take Michael up to your room"

* * *

Huey and Riley led Michael up the stairs to their bedroom. As soon as they entered, Michael threw his duffel bag over to the corner of the room and pulled out a sleeping bag. He also pulled a small black lock box and set it on the table.

"What's that?" asked Huey.

"My lockbox. I keep things that are most precious to my heart within this lockbox. Either one of you touches it, yo lives are forfeit."

"Man this nigga a fucking psyco man" complained Riley. "Cant believe this bullshit."

"Look" said Michael with a little less attitude. "We may not like each other, but we stuck to together now. So maybe we can make this work or maybe not. Either way…" He pulled out a match he hidden behind his ear and put into his mouth. "I know _what_ I am. What the fuck are you two huh?"

_And so began a new chapter of our lives. A chapter we whole heartedly wish was left out in the final edition._

* * *

'That's actually a reference to a real person. Trish Staine was training for a marathon when she discovered she was 35 weeks pregnant. She had no idea because she still had been getting periods and hadn't gained any weight.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Tv voice**_

Chapter 3

_The night had gone by without any further incident. Michael had seemed most eager to rest. Though Riley and I decided to take shifts watching him to ensure he posed no further threat. Granddad had spent the remainder of the evening removing all flammable material in the house and phoned in about getting every possible form of fire insurance. The next day Michael had decided he wanted to join us at school for reason unknown. Granddad agreed just so that Michael wouldn't be left alone in the house._

The three boys and Granddad sat around the table to have their breakfast, which consisted of just buttered toast and milk.

"Granddad I want bacon" said Riley.

"No bacon boy. I threw out all of the cooking oil".

"That aint fair Granddad. We're not gonna burn the house down. Just don't give any to Michael."

"I said no bacon boy" shouted Granddad. "And from now on I don't want of you boys anywhere near the kitchen"

"Granddad why do we all have to be banned from the kitchen when Michael's the arsonist?" asked Huey.

"The two of you are bad enough as it is. I don't want to be taking after this one". He pointed over to Michael, who was sitting quite relaxed in his chair and seemed content with small breakfast.

* * *

"Okay boys have fun at school." said Granddad as opened the door for the three boys." And don't let Michael burn the school down".

"You know what man" said Riley after Granddad closed the door. "You feel like it, you go ahead and burn that motherfucker down. You be burning anything it ought to be the school. Just go in, throw down some gasoline, toss some matches and let shit get real man"

Huey shook his head at Riley's stupidity. Encouraging Michael's pyro tenancies was probably not a good idea, though it looked like he wasn't even listening to Riley. Huey was pulled out of thoughts when he saw Jazmine run across the street to meet them.

"Hey Huey, hey Riley" she said with her usual cheer. "How was your weekend?"

"Fine except for this crazy ass motherfucker here showing up". Riley gestured over to Michael.

"Hi" said Jazmine. Michael gave her no response. For reason he started looking at her from head to toe.

"Jasmine this is our cousin Michael" said Huey. "He's staying with us for a while". Now Michael was walking around Jazmine as if he was inspecting her. He finally stopped to look at her in the face.

"Yo where's your mom?" he asked. Jazmine pointed over to her mother Sarah, who was standing in front of an open window. Michael seemingly produced a pair of mini binoculars out from his back and was using them to look over at Sarah.

"So you're an arsonist _and_ a peeping tom?" said Huey,

"I call it having a healthy interest in the opposite sex. Damn that one fine lady". He put his binoculars away and stood over next to Huey.

"It'll probably be at least five more years before this one's ass comes in but if she's anything like her mom it'll be worth it, ain't that right Huey" he said while lightly slapping Huey's arm with back of his hand.

"Come in from where?" asked Jazmine confused.

"Sweetheart you forgot your lunch" called another voice. The four children turned to see Tom walk over to them and hand Jazmine her lunch box. "Hey guys. Oh I see you have a new friend with you. Hi there. I'm Tom. Nice to meet you". He held out his hand for Michael to shake. Michael merely stared at his hand, and then back to his face.

"Now, now don't be shy. I'm sure the boys have told all about how I'm a big time lawyer, but you don't have to intimated by that. I wouldn't say I'm _that_ big, but I have handled some pretty serious cases in my time."

"Let me guess" said Michael after a long pause. "An irrational fear of going to prison and being anally raped. You basically have spent your entire life inside of a turtle shell. You studied law so that you could watch every step you make and avoid committing even the smallest of offences. You think if you so much as drop a pin, a black man with a twelve inch dick will be standing behind you. You have no spine, no assertion, you can't satisfy your wife anymore and you hate Usher. I'm I getting warm yet?"

Tom now appeared extremely uncomfortable with Michael's examination and was sweating bullets

"I uh….well I better get going. I don't to have to you know speed-I mean be late for my case- I mean my client's case. Not that I wouldn't have case of my own, I just um…Bye". Tom ran as fast as he could to his car and soon as the door was closed he sped down the driveway. After a few Riley let a huge laugh.

"Yeah man, you got him to the wire. You something else nigga". Riley put his arm around Michael's shoulder as if had become his new best friend and led him forward.

"Yo how bout I shows you all my teachers parking spaces and you do your thing man"

Huey remained where he was with Jazmine and once again shook his head in disappointment. He now began to wonder which one of them was the more dangerous influence on each other.

* * *

_Our day at school had been uneventful. Despite Riley's encouragement, Michael did not burn down the school or any of the teachers cars. Once school had ended, Riley decided to head into town by himself, leaving me to walk home with Jazmine and Michael._

"So Michael, where are you from?" asked Jazmine.

"Los Angeles".

"Wow that's really far away. Did you fly here?"

"No. I walked most of the way"

"You walked all the way from Los Angeles to Woodcrest?" said Huey sceptically. "Why didn't you just fly?"

"Had no money. My stepdad left everything to Jennfier, so I had to make here by myself. Did some things for money I don't even want to talk about, but no sex stuff anyway. Saw some beautiful scenery though" All three of them stopped on the sidewalk, waiting for the traffic to let up.

"Do you miss your home?" asked Jazmine.

"No".

Do you miss your stepdad?"

"Nope"

"Do you….like it here in Woodcrest?"

"It's okay"

"Well hello there my young white friend and you other monkeys". The children turned around to see the familiar figure of Uncle Ruckus, who for some reason was dressed as a sailor.

"You must be Michael. I just heard the news from Robert. It is tragic, just tragic, a poor young white child like you having to grow up in family of negros, you may as well have been thrown into the African jungle butt naked, course then you may still amount to something, considering you white. Anyway just letting you know I know what's ya'll are going through. I was in the same predicament, living as an adopted child in a family of darkies. I tell you it weren't easy but you can still persevere. You can still become another one of god's great white men."

For a long minute Michael gave Ruckus the same blank stare he had given Jazmine and Tom. Finally he removed his match and narrowed his eyes in complete distain. "What in _God's _name is this _thing?"_

"This Uncle Ruckus" said Huey. "He's a self-hating black man"

"That's Uncle Ruckus No Relation. No relation to you anyway, you little monkey, though I'd proudly allow young Michael here to consider me his family. And for you information, I am not in fact black. I have re-villtigo. That's the opposite of what Michael Jackson had. Anyway if you ever get tired of that old nigga stank, you can come spend time with you old Uncle Ruckus. Unfortunately I must now set off for the great blue ocean. Oh it's so tranquil and beautiful out there. Not a nigga in sight, as all niggas are naturally afraid of water. Well so long".

Once he left the kids crossed the street and resumed their trek back home.

"You know where he lives" asked Michael.

"Yes" replied Huey.

"Im gonna burn that niggas house down" he said earnestly. "Im gonna burn his house, his car, his worldly possessions, hell I may even burn that son of a bitch alive. I never done that before, but I think I'll make an exception this time"

"My dad always said that playing with fire was very unsafe and very unwise" advised Jasmine.

"A car is unsafe" said Michael. "But that's only if the person behind the wheel of that car lacks the proper skill, knowledge and experience to effectively control the effects that car will have upon himself and/or others. They have to be capable of creating the desired results. That's the same problem they have with gun control these days. People need to be taught how to handle guns before they even touch them."

"Several mass shootings that have taken place in recent months have been done by people who were properly trained to handle guns" said Huey.

"Yo that's because proper gun regulations don't exist. They basically hand a gun out to anybody with twos eyes and a finger and let them keep a fucking arsenal in their basement and it fine cos they say "Oh we protecting ourselves from them terrorists and gangs". They need to establish better and stricter laws of how people can keep guns".

"You do realise being an arsonist is also against the law right?" asked Huey.

"Of course I know that fool. What do you think; I just burn shit down without realising the consequences of my actions. But it don't it matter to me cos that what I like to do, so I just do it. Not like I ever killed nobody."

"You just said you wanted to kill Ruckus"

"And you don't?"

Huey raised an eyebrow at Michael and stayed silent for a long minute before answering. "No. So by your logic it's perfectly fine for a person to do illegal things if they enjoy it and as long as they don't kill anybody."

"Of course not. Every person is accountable for the crimes they commit, regardless of how they feel. Except if it's me doing arson, that's the only exception but that's just cos Im biased."

"You know you can be pretty smart when you're not talking about starting fires"

"Thank you".

"You're almost as smart as Huey" said Jazmine. Before they knew it the kids had already made it home. Jazmine said goodbye to Huey and Michael and walked over to her house. Huey and Michael both entered their own home and joined Granddad in the living room who was watching TV.

"Hey boys. Where's Riley?"

"Don't know" said Huey.

"**And now back to the Deadliest Catch."**

"_**Ruckus get the net quickly" yelled the captain.**_

"_**Yes Sir Captain White sir and let me just say it is an honour to be the first mate of this great vessel. I do enjoy being out here in this calm blue sea."**_

"_**Captain the storm is getting worse! We have to get out of here!"**_

"_**Taking in the salty air, the wind on my face and best of all not a nigga in sight. Why everybody knows a nigga can't sail. They don't have what it takes to navigate these waters"**_

"_**THERES A TIDEL WAVE COMING! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"**_

"_**After all it's the white man keeping these seas clean of black pollution"**_

"_**HERE IT COMES!"**_

"_**Why I may even decide to spend the rest of my days out here in this majestic…"**_

The screen then turned to static as the tidal wave that had be coming from behind Ruckus struck the boat. For a minute the living room had gone silent, aside from the static of the TV. Granddad gave a short glance over to Huey, before shrugging and changing the channel.

"_**And in other news, the police are still investigating the mystery string of fires that have plagued the country over the last month. The trail of destruction began somewhere in Los Angeles and has continued in straight line throughout the country."**_

Granddad could almost feel his jaw hitting the floor. Both he and Huey turned their heads toward Michael.

"I know what you're thinking. And yes that was all me"

* * *

Thanks to all those that have reveiwed. I really appreciate it. It makes writing this story alot more fun.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Huey was sitting at his desk in his room, typing away on his computer. In the corner Michael sat at the table, with a glass of water and a packet of matches. He was tentatively lighting each match and then dropping it into the glass of water, watching as it instantly extinguish. Huey broke away from what he was doing to look at him.

"Why do you like fire so much?"

"Why do you like reading?" replied Michael.

"Reading is the most basic method I use to expand my mind and broaden my intelligent."

"Okay then. Fire's cool."

"Fire's also dangerous."

"So is a katana and you got one of those in your closet."

"I know how to use it."

"And I know how to use fire".

Huey eyed Michael for a few more seconds, before returning to his computer realising that he wouldn't get a better answer. The room went silent again except for Huey's typing and the sound of Michael's fires.

"How long have you and Jazmine been together?" asked Michael.

"We've been friends since I moved here".

"No I mean how long have you two been together together".

Huey turned around again and raised an eyebrow at Michael, as if he didn't know what he was trying to say.

"You know" said Michael, after he noticed Huey's confusion. "Wink wink, nudge nudge. Seating in a tree. Hold hands. Very cliché films."

"Jazmine and I aren't in that kind of relationship" said Huey dismissively. "We're just friends"

"No you're not" said Michael, very matter-of-factly.

"How do you know that?"

"She likes you".

"I don't like her like that".

"Don't matter".

"Look I consider her friend, but most of the time she is just annoying. She is naïve, ignorant and simplistic".

"That's why you two are good together. You're so cynical and disillusioned. A relationship is at its best when two people balance each other out."

"A real relationship has to be built upon a number of similar traits and interests. Two people have to be compatible."

"Okay" said Michael with a shrug. "Let's agree to disagree". They both went back to their respective tasks. "Doesn't change the fact that she likes you".

Huey gave no response and simply continued his work.

"So where do you think your brother is?" asked Michael, after another minute of silence.

"Don't know".

"Don't you care?"

"He can look after himself".

"All evidence to the contrary" said Michael.

As if on cue, Riley burst through the door and entered the room. He climbed onto his bed and then crossed his arms in a very pouty manner.

"What happened to you?" asked Huey.

"Nothin" grumbled Riley his tone betraying himself.

"Looks like something" said Michael.

"Shut up! I aint got to tell you anything!"

"Oh look at that he's all work up" said Michael, with an exaggerated concern. "Maybe he needs a nap Huey?"

"No, just let him tire himself out" said Huey with his usual monotone. "Otherwise he'll be up all night".

"Yo I said shut up!" said Riley angrily. "You two start ganging up on me now. Man I bet you niggas is gay for each other huh".

"We just what to know why your upset" said Michael. "Something happen to you after school?"

"No"

"You get mugged?"

"No"

"Discriminated?"

"No"

"Gangbanged?"

"Hell no!"

"Do you have a penis?"

"No". As soon as he said it, Riley realised his mistake. "Oh wait a sec I mean yes. Yes!"

"Oh wow" said Michael in a surprised tone. "I had no idea. Guess you would want to keep that a secret huh"

"Look I got a penis" said Riley defensively. "It huge man, like ten feet long! I got to fold it up just to walk."

"Don't be embarrassed. Lots of people don't have a penis. Of course their mostly women, but that's only like half the people on earth."

"I said I have a dick man!" yelled Riley.

"Riley he just joking" said Huey. "Now what's really wrong?"

"Cindy McPhearson, that's what's wrong."

"Who's she? Your girlfriend?" Michael asked.

"No fool I aint gay like that"

"Of course you're not" replied Michael with just the right amount of sarcasm.

"Look man, I was in town right" continued Riley. "And was just doing my thing yo, strutting my stuff. Next thing I know, I see Cindy hanging with them girl scout hoes or whatever. I come up to them, wanting to know the story. And we be talking, then Cindy starts whispering to them, like some fucking gossip girl shit, then they like laughing at me man, saying Im cute."

"And?" asked Huey, after Riley had stopped.

"That's it man!" said Riley, as if the reason for his anger for obvious. "She thinks im cute! Can you believe that bullshit?"

"So a girl says you're cute and you think that's a bad thing?" said Michael.

"Yo man Riley Freemans a real nigga. I can't go around having bitches saying Im cute, else everybody's gonna think Im some pussy. People say puppies is cute and they pet them. You think I want people to start petting me. Man you got to be fucking retarded to think that. Besides Cindy don't do that kind of shit. She a straight up gangster. If she think that, that must mean she thinks Im going soft".

"Or maybe is just thinks your cute" suggested Michael.

"I got do something big man" Riley continued. "Not just to show Cindy, but all them fools out there saying Im cute. Something that'll really bring me some real respect."

"Riley I know what you're going to do and I'll tell you right now it's a bad idea and it won't work" said Huey.

"You know for once in your life Huey, maybe you shouldn't be such a hater. And you aint some fucking psychic. You can't always _know _what Im gonna do next".

"You're going to ask Michael to help your start a fire"

"Pfft hell no" replied Riley smugly. "Im gonna ask him to _show_ how to start a fire. And once he shows me, I'll up straight up there with some arson street cred. Then when they see me on the street, they be like, oh man don't mess with this nigga or he's gonna burn your house down. So how bout its Michael, help a nigga out?"

"Nope" said Michael.

"What?" exclaimed Riley. "Why not? You said you like to start fires, so just show me how it's done."

"First of all" explained Michael. "Even if we did this, it wouldn't get you any real respect because you would just be leeching respect off of my talent. Second, you can't tell a man when to start a fire. He decides when to start fire. And he decides to start a fire, when he feels like he wants to start a fire. And third if you let people to _know_ it was you who started the fire, then you'd go to jail."

"Man you and Huey_ are_ gay for each other. You both a couple of haters. Fine then. I'll do it myself."

Riley stormed out of the room in anger. As soon as he left Huey went back to his typing, while Michael looked back and forth between Huey and the door.

"Aren't you going to stop him?"

"No point, he won't listen".

"So your just going to let him deal with the repercussions of his actions, which are most definitely going to happen?"

"Yeah". Another minute of silence passed.

"Okay". Michael then returned to his matches.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"So that's it man. Think you can do that?" asked Riley. He was sitting in Ed Wuncler the Third's room, explaining his situation to both him and his best friend Gin Rummy.

"Mm arson" said Gin thoughtfully. "Now that's a tricky business. I mean it's easy enough getting the whole building to go up, but you also got to make sure that it's secure so that the people inside can't get out. And I don't just mean locking all the doors and windows. I mean every single crack and crevice. When people are face first with death, then they'll get their bodies to squeeze through things you aint even think was possible".

"No, there don't need to be people in the building".

"Man that shit be even harder" said Ed. "If you want to burn a bunch of motherfuckers alive, then they got to be _in_ the building when you set it up. Nobodies gonna go inside after you light in on fire".

"No man" moaned Riley. "I just want to burn down an empty building. I don't want to burn up any people".

"Well didn't you say that in the first place?" complained Gin. Riley let out a sigh of frustration.

* * *

The trio were now driving through town in Ed's car, with Ed at the wheel, Gin in the passenger seat and Riley in the back.

"All here's the plan" said Gin. "There's this motel downtown that's an absolute shithole. Nobody ever goes there and the guy at the desk usually heads to the strip club at this hour, so we got plenty of time to set the fire."

"Oh yeah" said Riley excitedly. "This is gonna be so good. We gonna light that bitch up. I'm even gonna spell my name out on the gasoline, so that when the crowd comes they see the name 'Young Reezy' burned on the floor. Then people know who they should be hating."

"Hey man, aint that motel the same one across from Jessie's gun shop?" asked Ed.

"Yeah" replied Gin.

"Naw wait a second man. See we can't burn that place. I go there on the weekend after I rob Jessie's place".

"Why in God's name would you go to that dump? Its dirty, the beds are hard and they give you no discount breakfast in the morning".

"Well you see they give you these little green mints when you check out. I tell you man those are real refreshing and they leave a nice taste in your mouth for a while".

"Nigga I don't care about no motherfuckering mints. When you go to a motel, the first thing you should be getting above everything else is a fucking breakfast. Everybody knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Man I tell you French toast, fried eggs, waffles and some tasty orange juice. Mm hmm that's what every man needs when he first wakes up in the morning, a tasty and nutritious start to the day. I don't care if they give you a fucking foot rub and a free shower cap. If you don't get your breakfast, then they are just ripping you off and if some nigga gonna rip me off, then I gonna shoot him right in his goddamn asshole".

"Yeah but them mints is refreshing. And after I rob Jessie's place, I need somewhere to rest, cos you know that nigga Jessie's one touch ass motherfucker. Man he named like a chick, but he shoots like some goddamn matrix bullshit. But I tell you what he got some of the heaviest guns you ever done see. So if I burn that motel down where I am I supposed to get my guns?"

"Ed you rich" said Riley. "Just buy your guns somewhere else".

"Yeah man" added Gin. "You don't need to keep relying on one place to get your guns. What if they close down on ya? You got to have contingency and backups in place".

"You know what man? Im gonna rob him once last time." Ed pulled the car in, next to the gun shop which was indeed right across from the motel Gin had mentioned. Ed stepped out of the car and took out a heavy assault rifle.

"Ed hold up" said Rile as he got out of the car. "We got to burn the motel first"

"I aint going to the motel, till I rob Jessie's. That's the way we always do things. And that's the way I'm gonna end them"

"You right man" said Gin. "Fuck that asshole, let's go in there and show him not to fuck with us"

"What about the motel?" demanded Riley.

"Nigga we can't burn a motel while we doing a robbery" Gin explained. "You can't focus on thing while you do something else at the same time. You know that texting on the phone while driving is the number one cause of road accidents?"

Gin pulled out two semi-automatic guns from his back. "Now let's do this shit!"

Both and Ed charged into the gun shop and immediately began shooting. Riley frowned in anger as stood by the car. After almost half an hour, the shooting inside hadn't calm down in the slightest. Riley could still hear both Ed and Gin screaming curse words and nonsensical statements. He was about to give up and head home, when both Ed and Gin came running out of the shop. They were soon followed by a bald man, presumably Jessie, who was carrying what seemed to be an RPG missile launcher. Ed and Gin ducked around behind the car, as Jessie took aim and fired. However it went straight over the car and hit the bottom of the neon scene of the motel. Riley, as well as Gin and Ed ran back as the sign fell directly on top of Ed's car.

"That'll teach you not to fuck with me!" yelled Jessie. He turned around and headed back into his shop, but stopped at the door, before turning again. "By the way Ed, that gun of yours look like it jamming. Come back tomorrow and I'll fix it". Jessie now spoke as if nothing had happened and walked back into his shop.

"Sure thing Jessie" Ed yelled back.

"Man that one decent motherfucker" said Gin lightly. "You know you can make new friends everyday".

"What about the motel?!" said Riley.

"What about it?" asked Ed. He looked over to the destroyed neon sign that had crushed his car.

"We were supposed to burn it down"

"We blew it up. That's basically the same thing" said Gin. "Hey Ed we need another ride. Call your granddad".

Riley let a long sigh as he sat down on the sidewalk and rubbed his eyes in frustration.

"Wow that was not a fruitful endeavour for you was it?" Riley turned around to see Michael standing behind him.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" asked Riley annoyed.

"Huey said that it's normally pretty funny to watch when one of your ideas fails horribly and I gotta say he was right."

Riley stood up in anger and turned around to face Michael. He was pissed off enough as it was, he wasn't about to take anymore shit this day.

"You know want man you just a fucking poser!" he accused. "You say your some badass arson guy, but you didn't even try to burn the school down. The only thing you done since you got here was light a bed on fire. Man I bet you was just playing with a match and then dropped it by accident. You aint nothing!"

Michael simply raised an eyebrow at Riley, who for some reason seemed to have forgotten that the last time he insulted Michael this close to his face he got his head smashed on the table. This realisation soon started to dawn back on to him as Michael slowly took his trademark match out of his mouth and moved closer.

For second Riley thought he was about to get beat senseless, but instead Michael just held up his match and quickly brushed it off of Riley's cheek to light it. He held it in his hand for a second before dropping it to the ground. When it landed, it suddenly lit up a trail of fire that sped along the ground to motel behind them. The trail went up into one of the window and less than a second after it did, a huge explosion went off on the inside setting the entire building on fire.

Riley stood where he was in complete awe, while Michael just took out yet another match.

"_That's_ how it's done, ass pussy."

* * *

"Where have you two been?" asked Granddad suspiciously, as soon as Michael and Riley entered the house.

"Out" said Michael.

"It said on the news that somebody started a fire downtown."

"Wasn't us".

"Really? Then who?"

"It was the KKK."

"The KKK?"

"Yeah. And…..terrorists"

Granddad still gave them an angry stare.

"Okay then. Damn. I knew them KKK was going to be back some day. Their probably after me. You know I gave them some trouble back in the day".

Michael and Riley continued up the stairs, allowing Granddad to continue on with his rant as he would soon forget about what started the conversation in the first. Huey was waiting for them in the bedroom.

"So how'd it go?" he asked, though he sounded like he knew the answer already.

"It was the bomb nigga" said Riley pompously. "We was up in there bringing the heat. And then we really brought the heat. And then we went up and burn that bitch down. And we be chased down by the fuzz, but we smoked them so fast, they couldn't even find their asses anymore."

"Is that what really happened?" Huey asked Michael.

"Oh yeah" replied Michael deadpanned. "Riley sure proved whatever the hell he was trying to prove to that girl who defiantly doesn't have a crush on him. Guess we all need to giving him respect now."

"Thanks man" said Riley sincerely, clearly not getting the subtle sarcasm. He then left to head to the bathroom.

Once he was gone Huey let out sigh, as Michael walked over to his corner of the room and lay down on his sleeping bag.

"Did you really go all the way downtown just to watch my brother mess up and to burn down a motel?"

"Yep" replied Michael, looking directly at the celling.

"What exactly do you want?"

"Nothing"

"You must want something. Everybody does"

"I've never had any long term goals or aspirations. I just live my life each and every day the way I want to".

"Is that how you lived with your stepdad?"

"Basically"

"Did that have anything to do with your mom?"

"No. Why would it?"

"Don't you miss her?"

"Do you?"

"I never even knew her"

"Well how can I miss someone I never knew?"

"Do you miss your stepdad then?"

At this Michael let out a small laugh. "Fuck no. That guy was a worthless, unfaithful walking pile of steaming shit. When he died he left me with nothing, which was also the only thing he gave me when he was alive. I hated him with every iota of my being."

There was a brief silence after he had finished, where Huey continued to give him his usual cold stare. Michael then let out a small sigh of his own and closed his eyes.

"Despite that however" he said with a slightly softer voice. "He was the closest thing to family I had. He did absolutely nothing for me, except just to put up with me. No matter what he did or how much I despised him, I was still grateful that he was just there. Not there _for_ me, but just there."

Huey was a little taken back from seeing this more vulnerable side of Michael. He now started to feel a bit more sympathetic.

"Thank you" said Huey.

"For what?"

"For being there for my brother tonight".

Michael simply turned over on his side with his back to Huey, ready to go to sleep.

"You're welcome."

* * *

PS. There's going to be some Huey and Jazmine next chapter. I was planning to do it from the beginning but it's not going to be the main focus of the story, at least not entirely.


	6. Chapter 6

Boy this was a long one. I was planning to do this all in one chapter, but it kept getting too long. Hope all you shippers like this chapter and the next.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Boondocks or its characters (except Michael). If I did it would be a very crappy show.

Chapter 6

_Over the course of the next week, my family had slowly begun to adjust to the presence of Michael Ringer. His passion for fire and his aloof demeanour had earned him Riley's respect, though this respect would often depend if Michael decided to humour Riley._

_Granddad had also learned to ignore or more likely forget about his fear of Michael burning the house down. In fact he now treated simply as another nuisance in his home. Luckily Michael had been good to his word and didn't start anymore more fires inside the house. However he had found a nice patch of grass in the backyard where he burned miscellaneous objects, some of which would be missed dearly._

_I myself found Michael to be an enigma. While I find his overall attitude to be disrespectful and strange, I couldn't help but appreciate his keen and open perspective of the world. He was often willing to discuss social, political and economic matters with me and I soon discovered he had something that many other people I knew didn't; an opinion formed in his own mind._

_Before long it was the weekend and Granddad had invited the Dubois family over for Sunday dinner. Unfortunately, this dinner would set off a chain of events that have yet to come. Events that, like everything around here end bitter sweet._

"Good food, good food, gooood fooood yeah" sang Granddad as he was preparing the meal. Huey entered the kitchen, followed by Riley and then Michael. When all three boys stood at the counter, Granddad cleared his throat and gave a stern look to Michael. Michael let out a small sigh and walked a few feet away from everyone else, to stand at the back of the room.

"Granddad I thought we agreed we weren't going to have any more soul food" said Huey, after examining the food.

"I never agreed to that boy. Besides this is a special occasion. Its Michael's first Sunday dinner with us and I'm sure he'll love some good ol soul food. Ain't that right Michael?"

"No I hate soul food" replied Michael. "That stuff will kill you"

"See" said Granddad to Huey. "He's all excited"

"He just said he doesn't like soul food"

"Oh he just hasn't ever tried my specialty before. Besides I have some other stuff ready so you can eat that. Now make yourselves useful and finish setting the table!"

"I hope Miss Dubois didn't bring any of that vomit cobbler she got" said Riley.

"Boy we been through this" said Granddad. "It isn't vomit, it just looks like vomit!"

As if on cue the doorbell rang, signalling that the Dubois family had arrived. Riley walked down the hall and opened the door for them. As they entered the house, Riley gave Sarah a look that basically said there better not be any of that vomit cobbler.

"Hello Robert" greeted Tom. "Thanks again for having us over"

"No problem Tom. Foods all ready. So everybody take a seat"

"Daddy, may I sit there next to Huey?" asked Jazmine. For some reason she was speaking very slowly and sounded as though she was deliberately putting emphasis on each syllable

"Sure thing sweetheart, you can sit next to Huey" said Tom approvingly. Jazmine quickly sat down right beside Huey and avoided eye contact.

"Hello Huey" said Jazmine still with the same careful tone.

"Hey" he replied flatly.

Tom was about take his own seat next to Sarah, but stopped as he saw Michael had already taken it. He seemed to have his full attention on Sarah.

"Well hello" he said charmingly. "I don't think we've had the pleasure"

"Oh hi you must be Michael" she replied in a friendly manner. "I'm Sarah. Jazmine's mom"

"Well now I know where Jazmine got her looks"

"Ohhohoho stop" she said, clearly enjoying the flattery

"Oh no I mean it. If Jazmine looks even half as good as you did when you where her age, then she is a very lucky girl"

"Oh aren't you sweet" said Sarah warmly.

"Excuse me" said Tom, trying to catch their attention. "Hey there Michael. Um you mind if_ I_ have that seat"

"There are lots of other seats" replied Michael dismissively, without even turning around.

"Well I would really like to have a seat next to my wife"

"Tom, don't be rude!" said Sarah in a biting tone. "Michael and I are just getting to know each other"

Tom soon fell silent, but held a sour look on his face as he moved to seat at the other end of the table. The meal soon began in earnest with everybody eating a slightly different dish. Huey, Michael and Jasmine were the only ones avoiding the soul food and were having a more varied dish. Riley was hungrily eating one of Granddad Luther burgers, while Tom wasn't even eating. He kept staring over at Michael and Sarah, who were hitting it off quite well.

"So what's your big plan?" Jazmine asked Huey, dropping her voice to a whisper.

"Plan?"

"You know. Your big plan"

"What?" he said, clearly not understanding what she was talking about.

"Oh I get it. You don't want to talk about it in front of everybody. I understand". She then gave him a very slow and painfully obvious wink. Huey gave her no response but to cock his eyebrow at her strange behaviour and then resumed his meal.

Soon enough everyone had finished their dinner, except for Riley who was still trying to polish off Granddad's Luther Burger.

"Almost there" he said through a full mouth. He stuffed the final piece of the burger into his mouth before swallowing it whole. He then began to slump in his chair, the Itis1 taking full swing.

"Best burger ever" he yawned. He soon fell asleep in his chair. After that no one paid him much notice.

"Mommy, may Huey and I go up to his room to play?" asked Jazmine as everyone began to clear their dishes.

"Of course dear" she replied. With her permission, Jasmine hurriedly pulled on Huey's arm to lead him up to the bedroom, as he followed without much resistance.

"Michael you coming?" asked Huey as they reached the door that led into the hallway.

"No. I'm good. Here let me get that for you" he said to Sarah, offering to take her plate. Sarah in turn beamed at him, impressed by his politeness. They both left the table, followed by Granddad leaving only the sleeping Riley and Tom behind. Tom, who hadn't even touched his meal, looked very unhappy at being ignored.

* * *

Jazmine peeked outside the door of the bedroom into the hall to make sure that no one was there. She quietly closed the door and turned back to Huey, who was sitting on his bed, reading a book.

"Okay so now will you tell me your big plan?" asked Jazmine, her voice returning to normal.

"What plan? Jazmine what are you talking about?"

"Your big plan to save the tree!"

"What tree?"

"You know. The one on the hill outside of town"

"Why would it need to be saved?" he asked.

"Didn't you hear?" she said with concerned.

"Hear what?"

"Mr Wuncler is going to cut it down and turn the hill into a big launch pad for helicopters"

"Oh" he replied in understanding and then went back to his book.

"Aren't you upset?" asked Jazmine after a moment of silence.

"No. It's just one tree"

"But that's the tree you go to all the time. And it's where we hang out sometimes"

"There are plenty of other places to go"

"But…I thought you really liked it there?"

"Jazmine, it's not like I'm losing a place a need. I only go there to think. Cutting down that tree will affect my capacity to think. Nor will simply keeping standing affect anyone else, for good or bad"

"So… you really don't care?"

"No" he stated.

Jazmine's lip began to quiver and she looked as though she was about to burst into tears. "You don't care about anything" she said quietly. She then walked out the door, leaving Huey alone.

* * *

"I'm telling you he is hitting on her" said Tom in an angry undertone, as he was washing his plate

"Oh come on now" said Granddad sceptically. "He's just a kid"

Both he and Tom were standing at the kitchen sink, glancing over their shoulders at Michael and Sarah as they were now chatting on the couch. Sarah was laughing very heartedly, while Michael kept sliding closer to her.

"You said his stepdad was a playboy. How do you know he didn't take after him!?"

"Tom" Granddad began, "Sarah is your wife and she loves you. She is not going to leave you for a little kid. Besides it's not even that serious. They're just talking". They took another look over to them on the couch

"So you actually got to meet Usher?" said Michael in a seemingly impressed voice.

"Yes. It was great!" squealed Sarah. "I made sure to save all the pictures and have them laminated. He's even more handsome in person. I was sooo lucky"

"I bet Tom_ loves_ Usher"

"Uh no he hates him. He also says that I act like a little girl about Usher"

"Well that's a bit unfair. After all can't a twenty five year old women act like a ten year old girl?"

"Ooh you are so adorable" said Sarah affectionately. "I could just eat you up!" She then pulled Michael into a tight hug. Michael let out a small grin as he snuggled closer into her chest.

Granddad watched this scene with both surprise and envy. He glanced over to Tom, whose eyes were bugling and his jaw hung open. "Okay I'll have a word with him"

"Sarah may I borrow Michael for a moment?" asked Granddad as he moved in front of the couch. Before Sarah gave any reply he grabbed Michael by his arm, breaking their embrace, and pulled him into the hall.

"What the hell are you doing boy?" he demanded.

"Flirting" he said with a smile.

"You nine years old boy! You can't be flirting with a grown woman"

"Why? You're like eighty and you're still dating younger women"

"That's different. Women like older man. They don't like younger boys. Unless those boys are very, very lucky"

"Well Sarah seemed to like me"

"Yeah well Sarah's a married woman. You're getting way ahead of yourself" Granddad got down on one knee and placed his hand on Michael's shoulder and looked him straight in the eye. "Look, you're young. When you hit sixteen, you can do all the flirting you want son. But there are still so many things for you do first. Go to school. Play with other kids. Surf the web. Learn to drive. Just take it slow and enjoy your childhood. You only have it once"

"You know, if Tom is this threaten by a nine year old kid and he sends you to deal with me, then it really does looks like his marriage is over"

"Look just go outside and play with some other kids!" yelled Granddad, his tone becoming harsh again.

"Fine" said he, with a roll of his eyes.

Michael turned to walk out to the front door. When he opened it he found Jazmine sitting on the porch, with her chin resting on her knees. He casually walked passed her without much notice and was half way down the lawn when he heard her sniffle. He paused for minute before turning back to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked reluctantly.

"N-Nothing" she said in an extremely poor attempt at lying.

"Come on. What is it?" he asked again, this time taking a seat beside her.

"Well…there's this tree on a hill that Huey likes to go to all the time, but they're going to cut it down"

"And Huey doesn't really care?" he assumed.

"He says he doesn't but I know he does. He always cares when bad things happen"

"But he isn't going to do anything about it"

"No" she said sadly.

"Well why don't you do something about it then?" he suggested.

"Me?" she said, as if the idea had never occurred to her. "What can I do? I'm not like Huey"

"Do you really care about that tree?"

"Uh huh"

"Well then that's a pretty good start. You see unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing's going to get better. It's not"

Jazmine slowly began to process what Michael was saying before speaking again.

"So if I care enough… things will get better?"

Michael sighed and rubbed his eyes. "No. What I mean is that you have to care enough to do something yourself"

"Oh I see" she said in understanding. She closed her eyes for a moment to think again before standing up in excitement.

"I got an idea! Thanks Michael". She then ran down the lawn to her house and waved goodbye to Michael, who remained where he was and was beginning to wonder if this was a good sign.

* * *

The next day

_**We're here just outside of Woodcrest, where the nation is now gripped with fear by the emergence of an eco-terrorist, the third or fourth most dangerous kind of terrorist. The terrorist identified here is a local resident of Woodcrest, named Jazmine Dubois. Construction on Ed Wuncler's new helicopter launch pad was meant to begin early this morning, when the crew discovered that this young girl had taken refuge in a tree and was refusing to get down from it. Her intentions are unclear but as full blooded Americans we are naturally jumping to irrational conclusion and are simply assuming nuclear warfare or possible Chinese takeover. SWAT teams are standing by, as well as snipers and bomb squads to defuse the situation, which is already spirally out of control. I think I speak for us all, when I say that I am shitting my pants right now.**_

The Freeman family, including Michael were watching the news report with varied reactions.

"Huh, that terrorist looks just like Jazmine" said Granddad.

"It _is_ Jazmine" Huey said in an impatient tone.

"You sure?" asked Granddad uncertain.

"Well I guess it worked" said Michael with mild surprise.

"What worked?" questioned Huey.

"Jazmine was upset about that tree getting cut down, so I told her something to get her motivated into saving it"

"What did you tell her?"

"I said 'Unless someone like you cares an awful lot, nothing's going to get better, it's not'".

"That's a line from Dr Seuss the Lorax" said Huey.

"That's why I thought Jasmine would understand it"

"You tried to motivate someone with a line from a children's book?" asked Huey critically.

"Sure it's just the same thing every time with different words"

Everyone turned their heads as they heard a loud and frantic banging on the door. Granddad cautiously walked to the door and peeked out the eye hole. It was Tom. As soon as Granddad opened the door, Tom threw himself into Granddad's arms.

"Oh Robert!" he cried. "It's horrible, just horrible!"

"Calm down Tom" said Granddad assertively. "It's not that bad"

"Not that bad?!" Tom yelled incredulously. He then started shaking Granddad by the arms. "My daughter's an eco-terrorist. They're going to gun her down and then they're going to arrest me on suspicion of harbouring a terrorist. The only consolation I'll have is that my baby won't live to see her father get anally raped!"

Tom continued to sob uncontrollably in Granddad's arms. Granddad glance over to Huey with an annoyed look, as if this was all somehow his fault. Tom paused in his weeping and crawled on his knees to place his hands on Huey's shoulders.

"Huey! You've got to do something! You got to save my baby!"

"Tom, if Jazmine wants to save that tree so bad then let her handle this on her own"

"But she's just a little girl! She's in over her head"

"It's her cause"

"Oh come on!" cried Tom desperately. "She thinks Santa Claus is Jesus Christ!"

"That's your fault" replied Huey flatly.

"Please Huey" he pleaded. "Your Jazmines only friend. And you're the only person here who can figure out how to help her. Please!"

"Huey just help her" said Michael.

"You're the one who encouraged her" retorted Huey. "Why don't you do it?"

"Only because _you _wouldn't help her when she asked for it"

"It's not my responsibility"

"Huey, she's your friend. That makes it your reasonability"

"Yo nigga just do already man. Then we can be on TV" added Riley.

"Huey! Go out and help poor little Jazmine right this second!" ordered Granddad.

Huey looked between Michael, Riley Granddad and Tom, who was still on his knees. He could feel the pressure they weren't putting on him and was beginning to see the truth in their words. He silently decided to give in.

"Okay I'll help" he said, cementing his resolve.

* * *

Season 1 Episode 10 The Itis( Its where Granddad opens that restaurant with unhealthy food)


	7. Chapter 7

This is the longest chapter yet. I hope people like it. I was thinking of adding more to it, but I feel as though this is enough. I would really like some feedback on this.

PS. For the people who keep asking about Cindy, I am planning to have her in this story I just haven't thought of a good way to introduce her yet.

* * *

Chapter 7

Tom and the Freeman family arrived at the hill and saw that Jazmine's protest had already become the centre of the media. There were several different news crews reporting the event as it unfolded, as well as helicopters circling the area from above. The police had put barricades a yard around the tree to keep people back. The police appeared well armed with assault rifles, riot shields and tear gas at the ready.

There were also other protestors on the scene showing support for Jazmine. They mostly consisted of hippies who were either singing songs in a drum circle or selling marijuana. There were even vendors selling various merchandise, including t-shirts, hats and bobble head dolls of Jazmine.

"Huh well this escalated quickly" commented Michael. "So what exactly is your plan?" he asked Huey.

"We have to find a way to keep Wuncler from cutting the tree" Huey said. "We need to get a court to overturn the decision to destroy this area"

"I know judge who might be willing to help" said Tom. "I could give him a call"

Tom took out his phone and dialled a number, well the rest of the group walked on.

They soon spotted Ed Wuncler Sr with his construction crew. He was busy talking to the chief of police about what to do about Jamzine. Wuncler paused for a moment when he noticed Huey approach him.

"Well if isn't Huey Freeman" said Wuncler, without any hostility. "Maybe you can sort this mess out for me"

"I came here to talk with Jazmine" Huey said.

"Well, be my guest. The sooner you talk her down the sooner I can start building my new helicopter pad. I was going to put it out in my back yard, but it would clash with some my statues"

"So you're gonna renovate an area located in an urban suburb, just for something extremely extravagate and unnecessary, that benefits no one who lives here and that you will only use on rare occasions?"

"….Yes" replied Wuncler.

Huey gave him a cold look before walking past the barricades up to Jazmine, who was sitting on a thick branch.

"Hi Huey" she greeted cheerfully.

"Jazmine what are you doing?" he asked wearily.

"I'm protecting the tree. I saw this in a documentary. They can't cut down a tree if someone stays in it"

"The people who do that have to spend days or weeks in the tree before any kind of compromise can be met"

"Well I brought my blanket and some sandwiches, so I guess I could stay for a while" she said with a smile.

"Jazmine this is stupid. It's just one tree. You can't save it, so just come down"

"If I do that" she said with a little more firmness, "then I definitely won't save the tree"

"This isn't going to work" he repeated. "Come down"

"No!" She then crossed her arms and turned her head on him. Huey gave her an angry sigh and walked back passed the barricades.

"Trouble in paradise?" asked Michael, when Huey reached them.

"Shut up" said Huey in an undertone.

"Man you let her walk all over you" said Riley. "You gots to get a pimp hand on that girl"

"Okay so just spoke with the judge" said Tom, entering the scene.

"And?" asked Huey.

"He says he's willing to overturn the construction of the helicopter pad if we bring him two hundred signatures"

"Okay" said Huey. "We'll have to organise ourselves back at the house."

* * *

"I've marked several key areas around town for each of us to work in. We'll all split up and meet back here after six. We can get this done quickly if you all follow these routes exactly as I've given you. You got it?"

Granddad, Riley, Michael and Tom were all in the living room, each with a clipboard, listening to Huey's plan. "Alright" they said in unison.

* * *

"Excuse me miss, but would you mind to giving me your signature?" asked Granddad.

"My signature?" repeated the scantily dressed woman

"Yeah just write your name down on this piece of paper. See it's to save a tree"

"How much you got?" asked the woman.

"What?"

"I said how much dough you got? "

"Uh about twenty dollars"

"Mm, sorry but its twenty five if it's to save a tree"

"Wait a minute. You're charging me just for a signature?" said Granddad.

"Yeah it's right here in my price book". The woman pulled out a small note book and began to flip through it. "A signature to save a tree: twenty five. A signature to help the blind: thirty five. A signature to raise awareness of women's right: two hundred.

"You can't charge me just to get you to write your name!" said Granddad in anger.

"Sorry but these days a hoe cant so much as breath for a man unless that man is paying them"

"Well is there anything you can do for me that's free?"

The hoe quickly pulled out a small cylinder from her purse and held up to Granddad's face. For a split second Granddad just blinked in confusion until she pressed the handle and sprayed him in the face. Granddad cried out in pay as his eyes burned up and fell to the ground. The hoe put away her mace and walked on to another client.

* * *

"Yo come on man just sign yo name!" said Riley.

"I don't know" replied the young man on his bike. "I don't want to support eco terrorism"

"But you do want to support the economy don't ya?"

"I thought this was about saving a tree?"

"Yeah well what about this man?" said Riley with a smile. "The economy runs on people's money. Money is made of paper. And paper comes from trees. So that means money grows on trees. Why do think people want to save trees so bad? Its cos they know that they can get rich by growing money off of trees. If we save just this one tree, we get back at least a thousand dollars easy"

"Mm you know you right. I think I will sign"

"Yo first things first man". Riley held out his hand to the young man. "You gots to pay be upfront"

"I thought you wanted signatures?"

"We do, but first you gots to give us some money as an investment. Then when we save this tree you get back at least twice as much as you spend"

"Okay". The young man took out his wallet and gave Riley ten dollars. Riley's grin widen as he soon realised an opportunity. He spotted a woman in a fur coat walking by and ran over to stop her.

"Excuse me miss, but how would you like to become a millionaire?"

* * *

"Sir please" said Michael, while holding out a clipboard and pen. "Saving even one tree can make a huge difference in the world. It can bring us one step closer to a more stable future"

"I said fuck off" the uncouth man at the door reiterated.

"Surely you can't ignore the plight of both a tree and a helpless little girl?

"Fuck. Off".

"All you need to do is write your name down" he said in frustration. "You don't even have to take any initiative yourself"

"Okay fine" said the man. He took the clip board and pen from Michael and began to write. Michael gave him a small smile of approval as he returned the clipboard. His smile quickly faded when he saw what the man had written. It appeared to be a very crude drawing of a penis beside an ear.

"That's not a signature" Michael said with a thin air of anger.

"It's a suggestion" replied the man with a smile. "So why don't you pick one of those, find the guy with the other one and fuck away his time". The man then slammed his door shut with a ringing bang.

Michael stared straight ahead at the closed door and slowly narrowed his eyes.

The fire brigade arrived half an hour later and found the man who owned the house lying on his lawn in a Fidel passion, as his entire home had been set ablaze. He kept rocking himself back and forward in despair, illuminated by the flames. The man only stopped when he saw Michael walk up to him, holding out the clipboard and pen once again.

* * *

"Okay I got about thirty two signatures. How did the rest of you do?" Huey stood in the living room with the others, waiting to hear the results of their survey. Everybody avoided eye contact and looked very apprehensive.

"You didn't get any signatures?" asked Huey.

"I only could get seventeen" said Tom in disappointment.

"I didn't get any. The only thing I got was a lot of mace in the face" moaned Granddad, his eyes still red.

"I got ten" said Michael. "I also burned twelve houses down"

"Man you all suck" said Riley. "I got at least two hundred green"

"Riley we're were supposed to get signatures. Not money" said Huey.

"Hey I got some signatures. Got them right here on these cheques". Riley pulled out nearly a dozen cheques written for different amounts.

"You didn't follow the routes I gave you"

"Real niggas don't follow instructions"

"I followed them" said Tom.

"Me too" Michael added.

"See?" Riley said smugly, if proving a point. Huey once sighed. This would take a while.

* * *

After nearly two days and a lot more mishaps, they finally managed to get almost all the signatures they needed.

"Okay so we just need two more" said Huey.

"Well you can go out and get those yourself" replied Granddad. "I aint getting maced again"

"Me too" said Riley. "I already got enough for my new chain"

"Is there anyone we know that hasn't given us a signature yet?" Huey asked Tom.

"I don't think so. I mean I asked everyone at work, you asked everyone at school. Everyone here gave one"

Granddad and Riley shared a quick glance and looked as though there was something they didn't want to say. Huey gave them an annoyed stare when he realised what they had done.

"You two didn't give a signature did you?"

"We're we….suppose to?" asked Granddad apprehensively.

"Yes"

"Oh. Well uh….whoops"

"Just sign your names". Huey handed the clipboard over to Granddad, who wrote his name and then passed it on to Riley. With that they now had all the signatures they needed. After double checking them, Tom took all the papers and went to deliver them to the judge.

* * *

Huey sat outside of the house with Michael for nearly an hour, waiting for Tom to arrive. The sky was surprisingly clear, just as the weather reports predicted.

"So you think this going to work?" asked Michael

"It might" said Huey.

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then Jasmine will just have to come down on her own"

"What if she doesn't?"

"Then I don't know"

"What will you do then?"

"I don't know. Nothing"

"You'll defiantly do something, if it's for her anyway"

Huey remained silent at Michael's comment and just continued to watch the road. He finally could see Tom pull up to the sidewalk and step out of his car.

"Well?" asked Huey when he ran up to him.

"The judge changed his mind" replied Tom sadly. "He says he won't do anything now"

"Was he wearing a fur coat?" asked Huey.

"Um yeah"

"Did have a new car?"

"Yeah"

"Did it have a Jacuzzi for a trunk with two white women in it?"

"Yes" said Tom in amazement.

"I guess Wuncler got to him first"

"Well now what?"

"There's else we can do" stated Huey. "We'll just to wait until Jamzine gives up"

* * *

Later that evening Huey sat alone his bedroom trying to read, but for some reason he couldn't get Jazimne off his mind. He kept hoping that maybe there was a way to help her, but he just couldn't see it. He was finally brought of his thoughts when he noticed something out of the window.

"Oh no." He could see a huge black cloud gathering on the horizon, with thunder beginning to rumbling. Huey quickly grabbed his coat from his closet and then ran down to the garage to pick up a large tarp. He folded it into a small bundle and then grabbed some rope.

As soon as the rain started just about everybody at the protest went home. The construction crew, the SWAT teams, the news crew and even Jazmine's so called supporters. Apparently their interest in this event wasn't worth getting wet. The only person left was Jazmine who was huddle inside the tree with her blanket over her head, trying as she may to keep dry. Her eyes were closed in fear of the flashing lighting. She only opened them when she saw Huey run up the hill in pouring rain, carrying the rolled up tarp.

When he reached the tree, he climbed up next to Jazmine and unfolded the tarp. It now flapped furiously in the wind, as Huey tied one corner of it to a branch above their heads. He tied the next corner to another branch at the same height. He then tied the bottom of the tarp to the branch they were sitting on; making a makeshift tent that shielded them from the rain.

Once they were safe from the rain, Huey took off his jacket and handed it to Jazmine, as her blanket had become soaked.

"Thanks" said Jazmine weakly.

"Okay look Jazmine" Huey began. "This has gone far enough. You did the best you could, but this isn't going to work. No one will think less of you for quitting now"

"No" she repeated.

Huey let at a long sigh. He was beginning to get sick of this argument. "Why does this matter so much to you. Is this really worth drowning or getting hit by lighting?"

"I can't quit. Not now" she said. "Even if things get hard, you should keep going"

"And why do you think that?"

"Well…that's what you do"

"What?"

"You always try to help everyone, but they never listen to you. And it doesn't what people say about you, you still do it. You're different from everybody else"

"You shouldn't try to be like me" he said.

"Why?"

"It's not smart or healthy to just imitate someone else and do what they would do. You have to be your own person and do what you want to do"

"And I _want_ to save this tree. I really do. I even turned down Mr Wuncler's pony" she said.

"He offered you a pony?"

"Yeah. He said he would it to me plus my own stable to keep him in, but I said no"

"Why?" he asked.

"I don't know. I mean I'd love a pony, but I just thought…. that staying in the tree was the right thing to do. I don't care if I have to stay in this tree forever. I really, _really_ want to save it"

Huey just looked at her innocent face and to his surprise, he couldn't help but feel impressed with her resolve. Up till now he thought that she didn't know what she doing, but now he could see she was really willing to see this thing through. For a minute there was silence except for the pouring rain and wind. Suddenly there was a flash of lighting followed by some thunder. Jazmine let out a small squeak in fright.

"How about you go home for the night and I'll stay in the tree" said Huey, after the thunder had passed

"N-No. I'm fine" she replied with shiver.

"Then how about I stay here with you tonight? Till the rains over"

"Okay" she said, still shaking. Huey moved up sit beside her with his back on the trunk of the tree. Jazmine quietly edged herself closer to him. There was once again silence, except for the wind blowing on the tarp and the rumble of the thunder. It didn't seem as though the storm was going to let up.

* * *

"Oh this is awful" cried Tom as he watched as the lighting was flashing outside. He was standing in front the window in the Freeman house with Sarah and the rest of the family. "Our baby is going to catch her death out it that!"

"This is all Huey's fault" said Granddad from his chair. "He is nothing but a bad influence on that sweet little girl"

"Well that's something we can agree upon Robert"

Everyone turned around in surprise to see none other than Uncle Ruckus enter the living room.

"Ruckus!" said Granddad in shock. "I thought you died on Deadliest Catch"

"Well that's a very interesting story. You see I was tragically shipwrecked on a deserted island with nothing but sandy beaches, pam trees and big round coconuts to drink. I was all alone, save for myself and for white Jesus who I knew would send help for me. Unfortunately when I managed to flag down a rescue boat, it were full of Mexicans. No way I was getting on that boat, filled with them salsa hat dancing and disgusting paper tacos. So I remained were I was hoping for another rescue boat to come by. It did but this one was full of yellow niggas. I waited again, but the next time it were filled with Saudi Arabia bombers. The good lord finally answered my prays by sending the white man to save me. As it turned out the island I was on wasn't deserted. There was a beach condo just on the other side, run by the glorious white man. I got to relax there for a while and then I finally made my way back home"

"I wish you had died" stated Michael.

"That's when I head bout Mr Wuncler's plan to cut down that oak tree" continued Ruckus. "I tell you I sure do love and respect Mr Wuncler, but can't stand by and watch this injustice go on"

"Wow thank you Ruckus" said Tom warmly. "I didn't realise you cared so much about Jazmine"

"I aint talkin bout your half monkey daughter. Im talking about Russ Curtis, the greatest white man to ever live, cept for Ronald Regan of course"

"Russ Curtis?" Granddad repeated.

"You never heard of Russ Curtis? Oh lord he was great man. A great man of the law. A man who hunted down and lynched over a hundred niggas. He lived back the good old 1800s. No nigga could ever escape from his all-seeing, eagle eyed vision. He could shoot so fast he could hit a fly from a mile away. Hell he could even shoot a bullet mid-air, not that niggas knew how to use guns back then thank god. He had the strength of ten men or about two hundred niggas. However one day he was framed for a crime he didn't commit and rather than been lynched like the common negro, he took his own life right up at that there tree"

There was a moment of awkward silence in the room.

"Buuuuullllllllll" cried Riley

"Actually it's true" said Michael, who was now Huey's laptop.

"What?" exclaimed Granddad.

"It says here Russ Curtis was a bounty hunter. He killed about a hundred black men, but he also killed at least two hundred white men"

"Those were probably niggas in disguise" said Ruckus.

"It also says that he murdered a man for stealing his drink. He was sentenced by a mob to be executed right at that tree. Just before he was hung, he admitted to also being a serial rapist and cannibal. He to this day regarded as one of the deadliest man to ever walk the face of the earth"

"Robert what's wrong with you?" demanded Ruckus. "Letting poor Michael look up a load of bullshit on that there internet! Such a disgrace"

"Wow" said Tom. "I didn't know that tree had such a dark history"

"Yes" said Michael. "But it's a history none the less"

* * *

Huey slowly opened his eyes as light was shining in on him. When they were fully opened, he could see that the storm was finally over and the sun must have been out. He suddenly felt a weight on top of him. He looked down to see Jazmine was still asleep and was resting her head on his right shoulder. He looked at her in surprise and then tried to gently lift her off. However when he pushed her, he felt a tug on his arm. He then saw that she had put both her arms around his. He was once again caught off guard and was about to lift her off when somebody lifted the tarp up.

"Uh nigga you gay"

Once his eyes had adjusted, Huey could see Michael holding up the tarp with Riley standing behind him. Michael extended his hand back and smacked Riley in the back of the head.

"Owww!"

"Shut up Riley" said Michael. He turned back around to face Huey. "Hope we're not interrupting something, but I have good news and bad news"

"What's the good news" Huey asked.

"The good news is, we found a way to save the tree"

"And the bad news?"

"It came from Ruckus"

* * *

_Later that day we informed the city council about Russ Curtis. After some deliberation they decided that due to his horrific and murderous reputation, the site where he was hanged had enough historical significance that it was worth persevering. They even agreed to place a small plaque underneath the tree so that people would always know that this was the place where one of the most evil men to ever lived, had met his end. _

_Jazmine finally came down from the tree and was not the least bit disheartened by the fact that the only reason this tree will keep standing is because some guy had killed hundreds of innocent people._

Huey, Jazmine and Michael all stood in front of the tree looking down at the memorial plaque that detailed the life and death of Russ Curtis. Huey felt nothing but a deep sense of disgust from the sight of it.

"They actually thought it was a good idea to leave this here as reminder of this man's presence" he said in contempt.

Michael bent down and picked up a large stone beside the tree. He dropped straight down the plaque, making it practically invisible.

"Problem solved" he said. He brushed his hands off and then left.

Huey walked away from the tree and looked out over Woodcrest. Jazmine walked up beside him.

"Are you sad?" she asked.

"No, but from now on whenever I come here, I won't be able to think of any except for what that man did"

"Well I can think of something that I'll always think about when I come here"

"What?" he asked.

"The time you stayed with me all night during the big storm. I can think about that and it'll make me happy whenever I come here"

Huey turned his head to the side and gave her a blank stare. "Good for you" he said before turning back around. Jazmine in turn gave him a warm smile.

And the she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

Huey wasn't entirely sure how to react, but he could feel his cheek become redder. Before he could say anything Jazmine walked down the hill leaving him alone. He watched her go and as soon as he was sure that she was gone he did something he rarely did. He smiled.


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks again to those that reviewed. This chapter was suppose to be a one shot, but I decided to make it into a little arc that will go on next chapter and maybe the one after that.

* * *

Chapter 8

"Riley don't do it" warned Huey.

"I almost got it" said Riley. He was sitting at the table in the bedroom, trying to pick the lock of Michael's lockbox. Michael had gone out for a while and Riley suddenly felt an urge to see what he kept inside the box.

"Riley, whatever Michael has in there is private. It should be kept to himself"

"This is _our _room" Riley replied. "We gots a right see what he brings in here. Hell we should probably start charging him rent from now on"

After another few minutes, there was a small click and the lid on the box loosened. Riley grinned in excitement, eager to find whatever treasure was inside. He opened the box to reveal that it contained nothing more than a folded piece of paper. Riley felt a stab of disappointment, but that didn't stifle his curiously. He picked up the paper and unfolded it to read the contents.

"_Stand up straight_. What?"

Surprisingly, in his confusion Riley did exactly what the paper said and stepped out of his seat. As soon as he did, there was crackle of broken wood and he felt something very hard hit him over the head. He fell to ground, clutching his head in agony. Somehow he managed to stay conscious and looked up to see Michael standing over him, holding the broken end of a stool.

"You're lucky that was the decoy" he said. He pulled out the real lockbox from behind his back and placed it on the table before going over to his side of the room.

"Told you not to do it" said Huey.

"Shut up" Riley called from down on the floor.

* * *

Huey watched as Riley struggled to walk down the stairs. Huey had to help keep him up straight every time he started to wobble. When they reached the hallway, he seemed to stable himself.

They suddenly could smell something tasty in the air, indicating that someone was cooking in the kitchen. At first Huey assumed it was Granddad, but then he heard what was distinctively a woman humming. When they reached the kitchen, they saw that it was a young white woman with a light tan standing in front of the stove, wearing an apron and cooking some bacon.

"Oh boys you're up" she said warmly. "Come on and have your breakfast"

"Did Granddad bring another hoe in again?" asked Riley.

"Oh you silly goose" said the woman, as if Riley was making a joke. "I just got in this morning"

Huey was beginning to wonder if this woman really was a hoe. She looked normal enough, except she had long, silky black hair that ended down her back. She also had a nice round face with, bright blue eyes and red lipstick. Huey had never seen her before, but it wasn't uncommon for Granddad to invite complete strangers to live with them, as long as they were beautiful woman.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Rebecca Freeman" she replied. "But you can call me Becky, everyone does"

"Your last name is Freeman?"

"Of course. What else would it be?" she said with an air of sweetness. "Now hurry up and finish your breakfast"

"Yo man, if she be cooking for us then I don't got a problem" said Riley with a smile. He took a seat at the table and began to eat vigorously. Huey took the seat next to him, while still eyeing Becky warily.

"Good morning, good morning"

Huey turned his head to see Granddad enter the kitchen with a light spring in his step, humming his usual tune. He took his seat at the table and began to eat. He didn't seem to react to Becky's presence.

"Mornin boys" he said pleasantly

"Morning honey" said Becky as she walked up to them. She placed another strip of bacon onto Granddad's plate and poured him some orange juice. She then planted a kiss on his cheek and returned to the stove.

"Morning cutie pie" he replied with a smile. He took a bite of his bacon and began to chew with delight. After he swallowed the bacon he took a swing if his orange juice and let out a long breath of satisfaction. He then glanced around at Becky before turning to the boys

"Who's that?" he asked, as if he just realised something was different.

"Becky Freeman" replied Huey.

"Oh. What she's doing here?"

"You didn't invite her here?"

"No"

"Oh Robert" laughed Becky. "Of course you did."

"I think I would remember bringing home a beautiful young lady like you"

"Ohhahahaha". Everyone at the table listened as Becky started laughing. And laughing. And laughing. And laughing. In fact she kept laughing for almost five minutes. What made it even stranger was the fact she seemed to be repeating the exact same laugh every time, like some kind of loop. First it was a low chuckle, then to a higher pitch, then a snort, then very boisterous laugh, then a quiet giggle and finally back to the chuckle.

She continued this pattern without missing a beat and it seemed it was entirely genuine. Eventually she stopped and acted as if no time had passed. She also didn't notice the looks of worry and fear on everyone's faces.

"You're such a charmer Robert" she said with a smile.

"Who are you really and how do you know my Granddad?" Huey asked, wanting to get the bottom of this.

"I'm his wife"

Huey, Granddad and Riley all held a look of stunned shock for about a minute.

"Daaaaammmmmnnnnnn" said Riley.

"Uh what?" asked Granddad, still in surprise.

"I'm your wife" she said. "Till death do us part"

"Uh heheh I think you must be confused" said Granddad in disbelief. "I don't have a wife"

"Yes you do. We're married"

"Uh Granddad you be marrying hoes now?" Riley said in disgust.

"I didn't marry anybody!" he yelled. "You can't get married unless both people agree to it"

"And we both agreeeed!" sang Becky. "I was so happy when you answered my request online. I could already tell from your profile that we are so compatible.

"Request?" repeated Granddad. "What you mean online?"

"Oh yes!" she said in excitement. "You answered my marriage request on the website. You gave me your signature and everything!"

"Marriage request? That was a marriage request? I thought that was for a date. What the hell kind of website marries people online!?"

"LetsGetMarried " she said.

Huey rubbed his eyes in frustration at his grandfather's stupidity. It was bad enough when he brought home strange women for dates. Now he was married to one and if she was anything like every other woman Granddad had dated, this wouldn't end well.

"Oh I can already tell we are going to be so happy together!" she said with delight. She unceremoniously placed herself on Granddad's lap and smothered her face into his. At first Granddad was taken back by this foreplay, but then started to get into it. Both Huey and Riley turned away in disgust as they listened to their grandfather's moans of pleasure. Once Becky had finished, she stood back up and took away the dirty plates for washing.

"You know maybe this isn't such a bad thing after all" said Granddad after she was out of ear shot.

"Granddad you just got married to complete stranger. How can this not be a bad thing?" said Huey.

"Cos I got me a cutie pie to come home to every night. I think I may have finally found love"

"You haven't"

"And you boys got yourself a mother figure round here now. You got someone to cook for you, clean for you, tuck you in a night, kiss your booboos and teach you right from wrong"

"That's what you should be doing"

"I don't need no hoe telling me what to do" said Riley. "I'll be telling the hoes around here what to do".

"Hush up boy. That's your new grandmamma you talking about. Besides she seems pretty nice and lovely. I know these don't usually end well for us, but this time I'm one hundred per cent certain that this will work out well for everybody and there will no dire consequences involved."

"Hey guys we got anymore churros?" called a voice from the down the hall. Everyone now looked over to see Michael step into the kitchen, finishing off a half-eaten churro. The instant he saw Becky, he paused in his eating and widened his eyes slightly in shock.

"Oooooooohhhh…..fudge."

Becky turned around from her work to look at Michael. She dropped the plate she was holding and appeared just as surprised to see him as he was to see her.

"Uh Becky" he said. "What uh, what are you doing here". He sounded somewhat unnerved.

"I'm here with my husband and my new grandchildren" she replied defensively. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Grandchildren?" Michael turned to give Huey a look of confusion, then over to Granddad. He widened his eyes as he slowly put the pieces together in his head.

"Oh lord" he said gravely. "You answered the request didn't you?"

"You two know each other?" Granddad asked.

"This is one of my stepdads ex-wives" he said.

"That's right" added Becky in a weak voice. "I was married to his stepfather…until he had an affair and we…we…..we split up"

"Oh" said Granddad in understanding. "Well Josh was my cousin and he died a few months ago, so now Michael is living with us"

"What!?" she cried, sounding hurt. "How could you keep something like that from me? After all the time we've been together I thought we had more trust". She then fell to her knees and started to sob hysterically. Granddad quickly up and lifted her into his arms to comfort her.

"Oh I'm so sorry baby. I didn't mean to"

"I can't stay here. Not with him!" she said, while pointing at Michael.

"Now I'm sure if you two just talk we can-"

"No I mean I really can't stay here with him. I have a restraining order of 200 yards against him"

"Why?"

"He burned…. my favourite dress" she whispered softly, before burying her face into Granddad's chest to cry once again.

"Michael! How could you torment this cutie pie like that?!" yelled Granddad in anger.

"That dress was ugly" Michael said defensively.

"Don't worry baby" said Granddad soothingly to Becky. "Why don't you go wait in the living room and I'll sort this out. Riley! Take her into the living room"

"Alright come on" Riley led Becky out of the kitchen. "Now let me tell you how things work around here…"

Once they were gone, Granddad turned his attention to Michael. "Okay we're going to have to make some new arrangement for you"

"Granddad you can't possible consider throwing Michael out?" asked Huey.

"Look I don't expect you to understand this Huey, but I have a responsibility now to my new wife"

"You've only know her for exactly five minutes. And besides you have a responsibility to take care of Michael too"

"A man's responsibly to a woman, outweighs the responsibility he has to children. It also outweighs the responsibility you have to your country and the responsibility to your fellow man. The only thing it doesn't outweigh is the responsibility you have to yourself"

"Despite the number of time you mention responsibility in that sentence, all you did was sound selfish"

"Look you can still see Michael around, he won't be going that far"

"I feel should warn you" said Michael. "Becky is not like other woman you've dated. She's a little….sensitive"

"Well I happen to be very attracted to sensitive woman" said Granddad confidently. "Now I just need to go away for a few days, then I'll talk Becky into removing the restraining order.

"Where I am supposed to go exactly?"

"You can stay over at Tom's and…. oh wait a minute" Granddad thought about that for a second before realising it was a bad idea. He then tried to think of the next best place to send Michael.

* * *

"Hey Ruckus I need a favour"

"Well what is it? If you want me to learn you how read or to babysit them African hooligans again, no thank you"

Granddad stood at the door of Ruckus's home. Michael was standing beside him with his duffel bag over his shoulder and looking none too thrilled.

"No no, I need you to look after Michael for a while. See I got a new honey at home and she doesn't want Michael staying with us"

"Oh Lord I knew this day would come" said Ruckus with a shake of his head. "I knew sooner or later you'd realise you couldn't possibly bear the responsibility of looking after this beautiful white angel. Hell I guess I should be grateful you have enough decency to give him back to his own kind where he belongs. Of course it's only natural you to give him up for some of your monkey procreation"

"Well that's where you're wrong" Granddad said with a smile. "I got me a beautiful white women to come home to. Hmm hmm"

"Well I must say that's a surprise. But then again all white women must every once in while feel the urge to repel against then natural order of things and get themselves a monkey sex toy. But don't you worry Robert I'll take good care of sweet little Michael here as if he were my own flesh and blood"

"Okay got to go". Granddad gave Michael a push through the door and then ran back to his car. In less than a second later he was speeding down the road, leaving only a trail of dust behind.

"Well now young Michael, make yourself at home. It may take a while but you eventually wash out that dreaded nigga stank and then later we both can pray to white Jesus for a better world for the white man"

Ruckus put his hands on his knees and bent down to face Michael, with a bright smile. Michael stared straight back him, with a dark scowl slowly forming on his face.

* * *

Shortly after Granddad had left with Michael, Becky returned to the kitchen and resumed her cleaning. After that she decided to prepare an early lunch for everyone, as it was nearing the afternoon. Huey continued to watch her with suspicion. He wouldn't admit it outright, but he was disappointed that Granddad had taken Michael away, though he felt that it wasn't entirely Becky's fault. Riley on the other hand didn't seem to care in the least that Michael was gone. In fact he was more than happy with Becky staying with them.

"Oh man, now this is the kind of hoe everyone kids got to have" he said with enthusiasm. "A hoe that cooks cleans and doesn't say a word. Granddad finally caught us a winner."

"You really don't care that Granddad just got married with even telling us or that he sent Michael to live with Ruckus?"

"Yo who gives a fuck about that nigga? We's Granddad's grandkids. He's got to be looking after our needs."

When Huey heard Granddad pull up into garage he walked down to meet him as he entered the hall.

"How it did go?" he asked.

"Oh fine, fine. Michael couldn't be happier over at Ruckus's place" replied Granddad.

"He hates Ruckus"

"Yeah well I'm sure they'll warm up to each other. Now where's my beautiful new wife?"

"How are you going to get her to lift the restraining order?"

"Oh don't worry about boy" he said with a smile. "There's no need to be in such a hurry"

"You're not going to let him come back, are you?" Huey asked in further disappointment. Granddad merely ignored him and walked into the kitchen.

"Hey baby" he said to Becky, as she was chopping some vegetables.

"Hi honey" she replied. "So did you send him away?"

"Oh yes sir. You don't have to worry bout him anymore." Becky closed her eyes and gave Granddad a truly happy smile. "Me and Dorothy left to live with a friend"

Suddenly there was a loud crack in kitchen and tiny splinters of wood were sent everywhere. Huey was immediately on his guard and tried to piece together what just happened. He looked down at the floor to see that a small pool of blood had formed at the Becky's feet. Huey looked up to see that the blood was dripping down from her right hand, which was still held the chopping knife. The wooden handle of the knife had been complete crushed in her hand, which was now covered in her own blood from the force of her grip.

Becky's face still had her bright smile on it despite what had just happened. However when she opened her eyes, she looked as though she was ready to kill someone.

"Dorothy?" she said slowly, through her frozen smile. "Who's…Dorothy?"

"My car" replied Granddad, who seemed unperturbed by her behaviour. "She's a real beauty. If you want we can go for a drive later"

"No…thank you" she replied, still smiling and her eyes twitching. "Excuse me… for a minute. I need some air". She slowly walked out of the kitchen, with the bloody knife still in her hand. Huey watch her go out around the back with that deranged smile still on her face.

"Wow she sure does have a strong grip doesn't she?" commented Granddad.

"Granddad, did you even see what just happened?" Huey asked urgently.

"What?" He looked as though he really had no idea what Huey was talking about.

"She just broke the handle of the knife. And she looked as though something was terribly wrong"

"Oh don't be ridiculous boy." replied Granddad. "She looked completely fine. Whenever a woman smiles it means there's nothing wrong."

Huey remained unconvinced and stared down the hall, where Becky had disappeared. He already had an irksome feeling that Becky might be trouble and now he was certain of it. He remembered what Michael had said about her being sensitive and thought about her reaction.

"What exactly did you say to her" he asked Granddad.

"I don't know. Just telling her about Dorothy"

Once he had said that, Huey took a guess at what was going to happen next. His guess was confirmed he heard a loud banging coming from the garage. Granddad heard it too and they both rushed to what was going on. Granddad opened the door of the garage to Becky smashing the hood of Dorothy with a rusty metal pipe. Granddad was almost brought to tears as he watched smash her windows next, followed by her bonnet.

When she had finally stopped, Becky was left panting at her work for a few seconds before she turned to face Granddad and Huey.

"Oh hi guys" she said with a smile, her earlier hostility gone.

"D-Dorothy" said Granddad softly.

"Oh yeah" she said uncomfortably. "I sort of saw a fly on her and I tried to swat it, but it a tricky little devil, so I got all over the place. I have such bad aim". She let out a small laugh, as if she was embarrassed.

"You slashed her tires" said Huey. He looked down at the wheels of the car, which looked like then had been ripped to shreds by an animal. The knife Becky took with her was lying beside them.

"Oh right. Well don't you worry Huey. I'm sure that got the fly too. Now I better get back making lunch for my new family!" She dropped the pipe to ground with a clang and walked out of the garage with nothing but a very pleasant demeanour. Granddad dropped to his knees and shakily embraced his beloved car. Huey put his hand on his grandfather's shoulder to comfort him.

* * *

So what do think? Like it, hate it. Please let me know. It does help me. Next chapter might be a bit further away than usual, because I have some study to do.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Granddad! This is serious!" said Huey, trying desperately to get Granddad to see the urgency of the situation

"Of course it's serious" he replied. "How the hell am I supposed to explain this to the insurance company?"

"That's not what I meant. I'm talking about Becky. I'm pretty certain that she's dangerous"

He and Granddad were standing in the living room, keeping their voices so that Becky would her them. After she had left the garage, she bandaged up her hand and went back into the kitchen. There didn't seem to be any trace of her earlier aggression left in her face nor was she giving any notice to her injury. In fact she looked as if she couldn't be happier making lunch for everyone

"Yeah" Granddad slowly, while eyeing her from around the corner. "Well maybe she's just in her you know 'special times'. Women can get pretty intense when that happens. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about"

"Granddad, she smashed the hood of your car and slashed its tires all because you mentioned the pet name of your car. She clearly has an aggressive sense of morbid jealousy and probably a bipolar disorder."

"Look every marriage has its speed bumps, but I'm sure she and I can work through this."

"This isn't something you and her can fix overnight" Huey asserted. "Look, let's call Michael and ask him for help"

"We don't need his help. I can handle this. I've dealt with worse in my time" Granddad said with confidence. He took a deep inhale and clenched his fist, before taking a powerful stride into the kitchen. Becky paused in her work to acknowledge him.

"Robert" she said in delight. "Just in time. Lunch is almost ready"

"Becky" he said sternly. "We need to have a few words about what happened earlier"

"I made a salad for lunch" she continued while preparing the meal. "I learned about it in a cooking class I took last year. It was the only thing I could actually make without a huge mess. I'm sure you and the boys will love it"

"You wrecked my car up pretty bad and I can't have that. If we want this to work out we need to lay out some ground rules"

"And after we eat, we can go upstairs and have sex"

"Rule number o-what?" he asked, his face dropping.

"We can go have sex" she repeated nonchalantly.

"R…Really?" he stuttered.

"Uh huh" she said with a quick nod. "We're married. It's only natural. Now what were you saying about ground rules?" she asked with interest.

"Oh…nothing. Nothing at all" he said with a smile, completely forgetting what had brought him in here in the first place. "Here let me help you set the table"

Huey was watching this exchange in the background. He didn't really understanding why he was so surprised, when in hindsight this probably was going to happen.

Huey sat down at the table in the mall hall with Granddad, Becky and Riley. Becky had prepared what seemed to be a salad with different vegetables and garlic dressing. To Huey it looked like a pretty decent and healthily dish.

"Uh what the hell is this?" Riley said in disgust as he eyed his plate.

"It's chopped vegetable salad & citrus garlic dressing" Becky said. "It has five different vegetables, with a mixed garlic and lemon dressing. It's really good"

"Man this looks worse than Mrs Dubois vomit cobbler. I want some fried chicken Granddad"

"You aint getting no chicken boy" he replied. "Becky worked really hard on this meal so eat it up"

"She spent all this time working hard and all we gots to eat is this? Man you must be some really stupid bitch if this is the best you can do in a like an hour" he shot at her. Huey quickly glanced up from his plate and looked over to Riley as he began to rant.

"I could have made us some fried chicken in like ten minutes and everybody be enjoying that, instead of the rabbit food. It take you a whole hour to make yo new family a meal, but me I'd do it just ten minutes. You supposed to be cooking for us from now on, but I could still do a better job at myself. But that don't bother you? How the hell do you live with yourself? Walking around letting an eight year old kid show you up like that? Man yous pathetic."

Huey tensed up and made a small mental note to kick his brother in the head later. He looked across the table at Becky, expecting her to give another dangerous reaction. However she didn't seem to be bothered in anyway by what Riley had just said. After a few minutes of silence, she closed her eyes and smiled.

"Oh I am so sorry" she said apologetically, as she stood up. "Let me fix that for you". She walked over to Riley's side of the table and picked up his plate. She then stayed perfectly still, holding the plate in her hands, her eyes closed and smiling happily. Her stance was finally broken when she pulled her left arm back and flung the plate as hard as she could to the other side of the kitchen. The plate broke against the wall, shattering it into pieces, its contents falling to the floor.

"There. That's much better" she said, her face still unchanged. She walked back to her seat and resumed her meal, as if nothing had transpired. Riley was a bit taken back by her action, but he soon began to silently fume at losing the meal he had harshly criticised. Huey cast a hard over to Granddad, to let remind him of what he had do.

"We'll talk after lunch" he said to Huey. "In another say twenty minutes"

* * *

Granddad left Huey and Riley to clean up the kitchen and hurriedly led Becky to his bedroom. He let her enter the room first while he closed the door with a perverted smile. Less than five seconds after he did, he had already stripped himself down to his underwear and jumped onto the bed. He then posed in what he thought was a very seductive position, however Becky merely appeared apprehensive.

"What's wrong baby?" he asked.

"Oh it's nothing" she said hesitantly, "but I was kinda of hoping we could try something… a little different"

"Well I'm all about diversity" he said pompously, sitting back up. "What did you have in mind?"

"It's a little embarrassing, but it's this thing I like to do"

"Oh you don't need to be embarrassed. Everybody's got their fantasies. I've seen just about everything you could even think of, so fire away"

"Well okay" she said after a moment's pause. "May I use your belt?"

"Oho!" Granddad said with excietment. "So _that's_ how you want to play" He turned around on the bed with his back facing Becky.

"Fire away. I have been a very _bad_ boy"

Granddad tensed himself up as he felt Becky slide into the bed behind him. He closed his eyes with delight and was more than ready to take a little whipping. However he opened them up once again when Becky placed his belt around his neck. He was about to ask her what she was doing, when she suddenly pulled as tight as she could on the belt and began to choke him with it. Granddad started gasp for air as he tried to pull the belt off of him. His started to kick his legs wildly and felt his vision go black.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Becky. She got off the bed and took her hands off the belt. Unfortunately Granddad was unable to undo the buckle of the belt so that he could breathe again.

"I just realised I wanted to do some hovering after I finished lunch" she said thoughtfully. "Oh silly me. I'll be back in few minutes Robert and then we can finish okay?" Granddad gave her no reply, but to fall to the ground as she left the room, still struggling for air as his face began to turn blue.

* * *

Huey had decided to leave the dishes in the sink for now, so that he could find out just who Becky really was. He went up his bedroom and began to type at his computer. Based on what he observed from her so far, Huey was able to perform a web search based on Becky's psychological traits and tried to match it to any know crimes in recent months. Since she was Josh's wife, he started his search in Los Angeles and soon began to make a connection.

In the past two years there had been a number of grisly deaths by an unknown serial killer. The victims consisted mostly of women, but also included some men. Huey then discovered some old news reports saying that the police had arrested a female suspect who matched Becky's description, that apparently killed an entire cooking class. The evidence indicated that Becky was the culprit behind the murders and was in fact a sociopath. She was almost arrested, until it was discovered that she was in fact a white woman with just a light tan. Adding to her case was the fact that less than ten per cent of all serial killers were woman. She was released immediately without any more suspicion. In the weeks that followed police found at least a dozen more corpses.

Huey sat in his chair, brooding over everything that had transpired. It looked as though they may be in grave danger. Surprisingly, he found himself wishing Michael was indeed here. He didn't fully understand why, but it wasn't just to help confirm his own theory. Huey realised was slowly beginning to miss him.

He was broken out of his thoughts when he heard a repeated banging at his door. Huey walked to the door and opened it to find Granddad standing in front of him, his face a bright shade of purple and belt around his neck. Huey pulled him down to his knees and took the belt off. Granddad took a deep inhale of air, before falling to the ground. When he woke up, Huey had already retrieved his clothes from his bedroom.

"You were trying out erotic asphyxiation?" he asked his granddad.

"I wasn't fixing nothing boy. I was just trying something with Becky"

"Erotic asphyxiation is the restriction of oxygen to brain to increase sexual arousal. When the brain is deprived of oxygen, it induces a lucid, semi-hallucinogenic state called hypoxia. Combined with an orgasm, the rush is said to be no less powerful than cocaine and highly addictive."

"Really?" asked Granddad with amazement. "I didn't know you could do that"

"Granddad that stuff is dangerous. Have you ever heard of David Harradine? He died from this"

"It's called trying news thing Huey. That's something a kid you age ought to be doing" he lectured.

"Look I was doing some research on Becky on the internet and I discovered some you might want to see"

"You weren't looking up naked picture of her were you?" he said disapprovingly. "That's you grandmamma yous looking at. I can see them right?"

"Granddad!" Huey said impatiently. "I think Becky may be a serial killer! Don't you remember when Luna was here? We have to call Michael and have him come down here"

"I ain't bringing that little arson midget back into this house, now that I finally got rid of him" said Granddad stubbornly. "What do think will happen when he come back here? He'll probably burn the whole house down. Why? Cos we know he's an arsonist and we know that's what he'll do. We don't know that Becky's a serial killer and we don't know if she'll kill us. You can't do anything until you _know_ for certain"

"So you won't do anything until she actually kills someone?" asked Huey with a challenging tone. Granddad merely stared sourly back at him. They both continued to hold each other's gaze without saying a word.

* * *

"Oh Riley please come in here" Becky called from the bathroom. Riley walked down to the hall and entered the bathroom. Becky was standing in there; the bath tub behind her was filled with water.

"Oh good you're here" she said with her usual smile. "It's time for your bath"

"Bath? I don't need no bath"

"Oh of course you do. Everyone needs a bath. Hop in!"

"Hell no. I aint letting my dick out in front of you. What you gonna try and rape me? Man you a pervert aint you"

"Oh well if you feel embarrassed you can just leave your clothes on. Now get in the bath" she repeated.

"My clothes on?" he said incredulous. "You don't know how a fucking bath works? Man you are stupid. If I want to wash my clothes, I'll do it in the laundry, not in the fucking bath tub where I scrub my ass"

At this Becky closed her eyes as she let out the same strange laugh she had done earlier, this time with a little more heart. As with before she laughed for over a minute. Then when she finally stopped, her face instantly transformed into a very dangerous snarl.

"Get. In. The. Bath"

"I said no!" said Riley, without any fear. "And furthermore you can g-"

Before he could even finish that sentence, Becky grabbed him by his collar and threw him over her head and into the bath. Water poured out of the tub and onto the floor, as Riley sank straight to the bottom. He lifted his head back up, coughing at the intake of water. He was about to step out of the tub, when Becky grabbed him by the shoulders with an iron grip and pushed him back underneath the water. Riley started to flail helplessly in the water and managed to push his head back up to breath. However Becky placed her right hand on his face and immediately pushed him back down. Riley now felt the water filling his lungs, as he tried desperately to pull Becky's arms off of him. His movements soon began to gradually slow down, until he was almost motionless.

"What are you doing?"

Becky broke out of her murderous stare when she heard someone else entered the bathroom. She looked up with a surprise face to see Granddad and Huey standing at the door.

"Oh" she simply said. "Hey guys". She let go of Riley and raised one of her hands out of the water to wave at them. While Granddad looked like he had no idea what was happening, Huey rushed over to bath tub and pulled Riley out of the water. He placed him onto the floor and began to check his vitals. He was amount to perform CPR when Riley started to cough up the water he had swallowed. He moaned painfully while looking up to the ceiling.

"What the hell were you doing!?" Huey shot at Becky.

"Oh Riley and me were just playing the bath" she said very pleasantly, as if that's what actually happened. "He was racially little devil. Getting the floor all soaked"

"You nearly drowned him!"

"Oh. Well in that case we'll have to start letting g him use the shower like a big boy". She once again smiled happily.

Huey looked at Becky with his cold stare and then turned his head to Granddad. Lucky it seemed as though Granddad was finally ready to settle this.

"Uh Becky, you mind if we talk in the bedroom"

"Of course" she said and followed him out.

Huey was left alone in the now drenched bathroom with his brother who was lying motionless on the ground. He coughed again and opened his eyes

"I told that bitch I didn't need a bath" he moaned.

* * *

"Okay now look Becky" said Granddad gently as he closed the door of the bedroom. "We haven't been together for a very long time, but that hasn't made any less enjoyable for me"

"Me too" she said. "I don't I have ever been this happy with some before"

"Right" he said uncomfortably. "But I've been thinking and well, we got married really fats and we don't really know that much about each. I mean, I know you like to cook and to choke people and to drown my grandkids, but I'm starting to think that this isn't going to work"

"What….what are you saying?" she asked with a scared voice.

"We need to split up" he said heavily. "I'm sorry"

There was a complete silence in the bedroom as Becky looked at Granddad with a truly sad face.

"But Robert…you don't want me to kill you, do you?" she asked in very worried voice.

"What?" he said in confusion.

"Well you if you really want us to split up that means I'll have to kill you" she said as if it was a fact.

"You'll…kill me?" asked Granddad in a very quiet voice.

"Yes. That's what till death do us part means" she stressed.

"Uh Becky" he said with a nervous laugh. "We don't literally have to die to part from each other. I mean sometimes relationships just don't work and people, well they go their separate ways. It's just a part of life, you know. You got to move on"

"Right" she replied in understanding. "Except in our case where if _we_ want to break up one of us has to _die_. We're husband and wife, so naturally it would be one of us who has to kill the other. And since I would never think of putting that kind of burden onto you, I defiantly will kill you myself" she said with unwavering honesty and resolve. She then looked him dead in the eye and placed a gentle hand on his cheek to caress it.

"That's how much I love you so much Robert"

She smiled lovingly into Granddads face, which was now etched with absolute terror from her powerful aura. Sweat was trickling down his forehead and he was beginning to feel a slight release lower down his body.

"Well that good to know baby" he said in a quick and strained voice. "Well I gotta to go. I have to help the boys… with their…uh…puberty. Bye."

As fast as he could, Granddad turned and sprinted straight to the door like a bullet, leaving Becky standing in place with her arm still outstretched. He slammed the door behind and pushed his back up to it as he began to hyperventilate. Huey was waiting for him outside and looked up at him with a clear intent. It was a few seconds before Granddad noticed him.

"Get the phone" he said.

* * *

"Damn it. Every time you're in the middle of something the phone rings"

Michael had just finished pouring out the last litre of gasoline around Ruckus's house. His phone was vibrating on the counter across the room. Michael dropped the empty drum of gas to the ground and made his way counter while carefully avoiding the wet patches on the floor. He also walked right past Uncle Ruckus, who was now lying on his belly with his hand and feet tied behind his back, his screams muffled by the gag in his mouth.

When Michael reached the counter, he pulled out a lighter from his pocket and tried to light it as he answered the phone.

"Hello? Oh hey Huey. Uh huh, uh huh". Michael nodded his head and listened with only half his attention on what Huey was telling him, while at the other half focused on trying to ignite his lighter, which seemed to be empty.

"Come on. Stupid thing. What? Oh not you. Uh huh. So she's tried to drown Riley? And she's trying kill you? Yeah I probably should have mentioned that eariler. She doesn't take criticism well. Uh huh, uh huh. Okay I'll be right over"

Michael hung up the phone and at the same time managed to get his lighter to work, but now he had other things on his mind. He absent-mindedly set the lighter down on the very edge of the counter with flame still lit, to look for his duffel bag.

"I got go. See you Ruckus" he said as he went out the door after he found his bag, leaving Ruckus struggling to break free of his bonds, surrounded by gasoline. The lighter was now beginning to wobble precariously on the edge of the counter.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Granddad had convinced Becky to take a run to shop in her car to buy groceries. Once they were certain she was gone they snuck Michael back into the living room.

"So uh Michael" said Granddad nervously. "I know that you probably didn't want to spend any time over at Ruckus's, but see me and Becky are starting to have some issues and I was wondering if maybe you could uh help us out a bit?"

"Okay, well first of all" said Michael, "has she killed anyone yet?"

"Uh…not that I know of"

"That's either very good sign or a very bad one"

"What the hell is wrong with that bitch?" Riley said.

"Some people are born crazy" replied Michael. "Others are made crazy. In Becky's case, I honestly don't know nor do I give a fuck. All I know is that she was the only woman my stepdad ever married that _he_ wanted to divorce"

"What exactly did she do?" asked Granddad nervously.

"Well as you know, Josh only could ever seem to find true love if he was cheating on someone. So naturally when he married Becky online, the first thing he did was have an affair. Normally what would happen after that is that he'd get divorced. Other times, he would go to marriage counsel with his current spouse where they would fix their broken bond of trust. The next day he would have another affair and then be divorced. However when Becky walked in on him and another woman…well it was quite memorable."

"What happened?"

"She cut off that lady's head. And then her arms. And then her legs. And some other stuff. And when it was over, she just smiled at Josh and said she didn't blame him.

"She killed your dad's mistresses?" said Huey.

"Yup. All of them. Every time he found a new bitch, she would cut em up. Unfortunately he dated as least another six women before he decided to try and divorce Becky, but she refused to go. And he didn't really want to persuade her. Apparently she takes the whole till death do us part thing pretty seriously"

"So what do we do?" asked Granddad.

"Don't worry. I have a plan. All I need is for you to do exactly what I say. First I'll hide in the closet. Then when she gets back, you and Riley will distract her. Huey I'm gonna need you to stay perfectly still and do nothing."

"Why? What are you going to do?" asked Huey

"Don't question him boy!" said Granddad. "He's dealt with this before so from now we're going to listen to every word he says instead of you!"

They waited patiently in the living room for another few minutes until they heard the sound of a car coming up the driveway. Michael signalled Granddad and Riley to go ahead, while he hide inside the closet.

Becky strolled into the house with the bag of groceries and set it inside the kitchen. She then moved out to meet the others in the living room.

"Hey guys. So what are we doing in here? Not planning any conspiracies against me are you?" she asked playfully.

"Uh no, not at all" said Granddad evasively. "Actually Riley wants to do a dance for you".

"I do?" said Riley

"Yeah" Granddad said with a nod. He looked down at Riley. "Do your booty dance for Becky"

"That's the _celebratory_ booty dance. I can't do it unless there's something for me to celebrate. That's why its call the _celebratory _booty dance" Riley said stubbornly,

"You can celebrate me not beating yo ass with my belt" growled Granddad angrily. "Now dance!"

Riley gave Granddad a look of defiance, until he finally walked forward and began to dance, though he clearly lacked real passion in his performance.

As Becky watched the dance, Michael quietly moved out of the closet holding a clean looking rag in one hand. He ducked in behind the couch and pulled out a small hip flask. Taking one corner of the rag, he held it up to the lid of the flask and dosed it in alcohol. He put flask behind his back once again and snuck up right behind Becky. He carefully opened the back of her skirt and tucked the rag inside with the soaked end sticking out. Finally, he pulled out a lighter.

Huey instantly knew what Michael was planning to do and rushed over to him just as he was about to light the rag. Huey grabbed his hand and pulled it back, while Michael used his free hand to try and push Huey off of him. Becky was still focused on Riley's dance and somehow didn't even notice the quiet struggle going on behind her.

"Huey no, stop it!" hissed Michael urgently.

"You can't set her fire" he shot back.

"Its best way!"

"No its not!"

"Yes it is!"

Huey and Michael continued to struggle with lighter, until they eventually fell to ground and rolled out into the hall. The second they were out of sight, Becky turned around as if she just heard something.

The two young boys made their way into the kitchen, where Huey clasped Michael's wrist with his hand and twisted it, making him drop the lighter. However Michael quickly countered by sweeping his foot under the back of Huey's right leg, knocking him to the ground. Michael then tried to make a grab for his lighter again, but Huey managed to pull down to the floor as well and placed him in ahead lock as he tried to reach the lighter.

* * *

"Wow that was great dance Riley" complimented Becky once he had finished.

"It's better when I gots something to celebrate" he muttered.

"So is there anything else you wanted to say Robert?"

"Uh…." Granddad didn't know what to say, as he wasn't sure if Huey and Michael fighting with each other was part of the plan. "You know what? I think we need some more milk. Why don't you go over to the store again baby?"

"But don't we have enough milk?" asked Becky.

"Umm….no"

"Okay" she accepted. She calmly left the living and went out the door.

Michael and Huey ceased their struggling as soon as they heard the front door close and Becky's car starting. They released each other without any further resistance or grudge. They both exited the kitchen and re-entered the living room.

"What the hell happened?" demanded Granddad.

"Huey didn't do what I asked" Michael said, while rubbing his arm.

"He was going to set her on fire" said Huey impatiently.

"Huey shame on you!" yelled Granddad. "Michael told you not to do anything, but you don't have the decency to even listen to what he says when all he is doing trying to help and keep us out of trouble. How in the hell can you be so inconsiderate?"

Huey simply cocked his eyebrow at Granddad, as if the only he was thinking was 'seriously?'

"It's fine" assured Michael. "I have a plan B. As soon as she gets back, you offer her a drink. I'll slip some sedatives into and that'll knock her out for a few hours. Then we'll take her upstairs, lock her in your bedroom and board up the windows. As soon as we're clear, we'll set fire to the house and act like we don't know anything, which will be very easy for Riley"

For a minute the room had gone silent at what Michael had just proposed. Huey was the first one to speak. "Do you have any plans that don't involve starting a fire?"

"Well no, not if you're going to be picking about it" he replied irritably.

"Uh well I don't think I'd really want to burn the house down" said Granddad uncertainly. "Also, I don't think we should kill her either. I really just want her to leave without killing me"

"Your stepdad must have done something to convince her to leave. What exactly did he do?" Huey asked Michael.

"He told her he was gay"

"That's it?" Huey said sceptically

"Yeah" Michael replied with some amazement. "I mean he told me that he just blurted out to her that he was gay and she just accepted it on the spot. Then she simply left without any further questions."

"Was that before or after she put the restraining order on you?"

"Before. I was actually living in a tent out in the woods after she set it up. I was there for like two weeks until Josh finally came by and told me she was gone. Procrastinating bastard" he added with anger.

"That's all I got to do!?" said Granddad excitedly. "Oh Hallelujah. Two words and that crazy bitch is gone!"

"Granddad there's no way you can do that" said Riley.

"Why the hell the not?" demanded Granddad.

"Cos if you do then this will make you a homo."

"I'm not a homo. I'm just going to say I am to get rid of Becky"

"That's what will make you a homo!" Riley said as if it was a matter of life and death. "If you say you a homo to a hoe, then that will officially make you a homo. You think that a straight guy would ever say he's gay to a woman? They won't, cos they know that'll make them a homo."

"Riley, Granddad isn't gay even if he says he is" said Huey. "He's just going to be pretending."

"Granddad" Riley said pointing his finger at his grandfather. "You do this and I will forever call you a homo. I won't ever say pause to you again, cos I already knows you a homo. If you want help with your online dating, I won't help you, cos you'll be looking at bunch of men. And I won't be going near your closet anymore, cos that's where you'll be keeping all of your gay ass clothes."

"I am NOT gay boy!" shouted Granddad.

"But yous about to say you are gay"

"Riley you don't even know what gay is" said Michael. "You don't even think that Gangstalicious is gay"

"Gangstalicious ain't gay" Riley quickly retorted.

"Gangstalicious_ is_ gay" added Huey.

"He aint gay!" Riley hissed.

"Look, we've gone off topic here" said Michael. "The point is we got to burn the house down"

"We are NOT burning the house down" said Huey.

At that moment everyone turned their heads to the outside window when they heard the sound of a car pull into the driveway once again, indicating Becky had returned. Michael turned his head back to look at Granddad and then at Riley. He shook his head and sighed.

"Okay you what" he said to Huey. "I'm going to go with plan C. Just buy me some time". Huey paused for a minute before nodding his head to confirm the request. With that, Michael ran down into the kitchen and slipped out the back window just before Becky came through the door.

"Your back early" said Granddad.

"Well you said we needed milk right" she said. "And I said we had enough then you said that we didn't, but _then_ I thought that we did, so I came back"

"Oh" he said. "Um can we talk in the kitchen?"

"Okay". The party moved into the kitchen. Granddad fidgeted with hands as he struggled with his words.

"Uh Becky there's something I need to tell you. I'm um…. I'm gay"

"Really?" she said in surprise.

"Yes. I am gay" he said with a little more confidence.

"Okay then" she said with a light shrug of her shoulders. "I guess this means we split up"

"Just like that?" he asked with a little disbelief.

"Yes" she said solemnly. "If you really are gay, then we have no choice but to end things here. It's not fair on me and it's not fair on you. I'll leave immediately."

"Oh thank you so much baby" Granddad said with gratitude.

"Oh man" said Riley in disappointment. "I knew it. I knew yous was gay all along Granddad"

"Now, now" Granddad said cautiously. "There's nothing really wrong with being gay"

"Oh so you aint even gonna deny it? Man I can believe this. All these years you've really been gay and you don't even tell your own grandkids? You sick Granddad"

"Riley, shut your damn mouth" said Granddad with an increase angry voice. "I wasn't keeping nothing from you".

"Except the fact that yous likes to sit on another guys dick" Riley said challengingly. "I should have known you was gay when you never said pause and from how you always need help with online dating. Real players don't need to help to get girls"

Granddad now had all his attention focused on Riley and didn't even notice Huey cautiously slipping out of the kitchen.

"I can get any woman I want boy!"

"Really? Then how comes you relationships don't last more than like five minutes? Even gay niggas can hold on to a hoe for more than five minutes"

"Look I'm not really gay you idiot!" yelled Granddad.

"You just said you were"

"I was lying!"

"Oh so now you a liar too Granddad?" said Riley with an even more impudent tone. "How do I know this aint a lie too huh? What else you been lying about? Is Huey even my real brother? Are you even really black? Just lies on top of lies"

"I'll tell you what won't be a lie and that'll be the big ol black and blue belt marks I'm gonna leave on you little black ass when I beat the shit out of you for calling your Granddaddy gay! And after that I'm-". Granddad suddenly paused in his rant and blinked his eyes slowly. He turned around to look at Becky, realising that she had remained exactly where she was, listening to every word that had been said.

"Your…not gay, Robert?" she said while tilting her head.

"Umm" he stuttered at a loss for words. Becky put her hand to her mouth, letting out a small gasp of realisation.

"Were you lying to me about being gay so that I would leave without killing you?" she asked

"Uh yeah" he said finally.

"Oh Robert" she said softly. "If you really, _really_ wanted us to break up, you don't have to lie. We can be honest with each other about our issues. You don't to go to such extremes to solve our problems. I understand if you want me to leave. I really do"

"Well thank you baby. So does this mean you aren't going to kill me?" he asked hopefully.

Becky smiled and let out her trademark laugh. "No I'm still going to kill you" she said seriously. Her face once again changed into an animalistic snarl. She lunged forward and grabbed Granddad by the throat and somehow lifted him up into the air with just one hand. Riley fell backwards in fright as Becky threw Granddad flat on his back, onto the table. She held him in place with her arm and used her free hand to grab a large butcher knife from the nearby rack. She twirled it in her hands and placed the side of it right on Granddad's cheek.

"Now baby" he said nervously, sweat trickling down his face, "I'm sure we can work this out"

"I'm sure we could" she agreed, nodding her head. "Except instead of doing that I'm going to kill you and rape your intestines". She slowly moved her knife lower down into his shaking body.

"Get away from my Granddad" called a voice.

Becky and Granddad looked up to see Huey standing at the door of kitchen holding a katana in his right hand.

"Huey" Becky said in a warning tone. "Your grandfather and I are having a discussion. Go to your room"

"No" he said.

"Huey, you are being very rude right now. Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait until I have killed your grandfather and probably your brother as well"

Huey stared straight at her and then unsheathing his katana, gripping it tightly in both hands as he took up a fighting stance. "You're leaving. Right now"

She eyed for a minute with a pout. She sighed out of nose and slammed the knife down right beside Granddad's face. She removed her arm from his neck and stood back up. Granddad tried to get up, but found that the knife had pinned him down by his collar.

"Wait right there Robert" she instructed carefully, as if somehow he could still move. She walked over to the drawer of the counter and pulled out another two butcher knives. She now stood a few feet in front of Huey.

"You forced me to do this Huey" she said sternly. "If I don't discipline you, you'll never learn"

"People learn from their own acknowledgment of their mistakes, not from someone else's"

The room had gone quiet. Both Huey and Becky stood ready, facing each other down, waiting for some sign to begin.

Huey made the first move and charged at Becky, taking a wide right sweep at her head. Becky avoided the attack with a surprising amount of agility, moving to Huey's side. Huey turned his body and followed up with a downward slash. However Becky blocked his katana, with both knives. Their blades were locked together for a few seconds, before Becky pushed Huey's blade off. Now it was her turn to attack. She took two separate swings at him with her knives. Huey moved backwards to avoid her swings, but held his ground to parry a third sweep and then a stab.

Huey took an opening and thrust his sword forward at her centre, but his attack failed as Becky used one of her to parry his attack to the left. She then raised her foot and pressed the blade down to the floor. Huey struggled to pull it out from under her foot and was forced to let it go when Becky brought her other knife down on his head. He released the sword and jumped back just as the knife hit the ground hard.

Becky pulled the knife back out and charged at Huey. She took two horizontal swings at his waist, but he took a huge back flip back, landing in the living room. Becky chased after him, sweeping at him with her blades. Huey ducked and weaved her blades, trying to find another weapon. He jumped back on to the couch, with Becky standing in front of him, knives at the ready.

He raised his fists up in an attempt to defend himself. Becky was about to charge again, when she was cut off by what seemed to be a trail of gun fire that on the ground in front of her. They both looked over to the hall, to see Riley standing with his BB gun pointed at Becky and Huey's katana in his other hand.

"Yo you call yourself a black superhero?" he shot at Huey. He threw Huey his katana and pulled out another gun. Huey caught the sword by the hilt and gripped it. Once again everything had gone quiet, as each combatant was waiting for someone to move.

This time it was Riley, who fired at Becky again. This time she was ready and kicked up the coffee table as a shield. Waiting for Riley to let up, she stood from behind the table and threw one knife directly at Riley. Reacting fast, Huey threw a pillow from the couch and watched it intercept the knife. He then jumped off the couch and attacked Becky now that she had lost one knife. She used her free to pick up the table by one end and blocked Huey's sword. However Huey cleaved right through the table, cutting it half.

Still holding one piece of the table, Becky flipped over Huey as he took another swing and while in the air threw the table at Riley. Riley rolled away from the projectile just as it was about to hit. Becky then moved up the hall and retrieved the knife that was inside the pillow. She twirled them both in her hands and took another stance.

For the third time everyone was still again, Huey standing by couch, Riley at the door of the kitchen and Becky at the side of the stairs. Both Huey and Riley tensed up and let a scream as they charged forward once again.

"Hey guys!"

Everybody in the room stopped abruptly in place, their bodies seemingly frozen in position. Everyone slowly turned their heads to see Tom, coming in from the front door.

"Oh sorry if I'm interrupting something" he said in usual friendly manner "I got some mail delivered to my house by mistake and I think it might for you guys. You don't happen to know a Becky Freeman do you?"

Huey, Riley and Becky looked around at each other and then back to Tom, with both surprise and disbelief. Becky slowly raised her hand up in the air innocently, as if she was in the middle of a classroom. Everyone now began to relax and lower their weapons while Tom handed Becky the letter, as if they were taking a break.

"Thank you very much" she said politely. Becky smiled eagerly as she used one of knifes to cut open the letter and pulled out its contents.

"Get down on your knees" she read. She stared at the letter for another while, before doing as it instructed, as if it was necessary. Once she was on the ground, she looked around at everyone as with a curious expression. Suddenly there was a very familiar sound of something breaking and Becky's head jerked forward as struck. She wobbled on her knees for a few second before falling to the ground unconscious. When her body hit the ground, it revealed Michael standing right behind her with a broken stool in both hands. Huey looked at him with surprise at what he had just done.

"Plan C?" he asked.

"Plan C" Michael nodded. Michael then dropped the stool and ran down into the garage. Next there was a loud grinding noise and the sound of Michael grunting. Soon enough a large wooden box appeared in the living room, with Michael pushing it from behind.

"Riley, Tom help me with this" he said gesturing to Becky. Riley didn't object to this request and moved to the unconscious Becky. Michael joined him picked up Becky's right arm, while Riley picked up her left one. Tom looked a little hesitant at what they were doing.

"Uh guys" he said, "Maybe we should call a doctor"

"It's fine" said Michael. "Now grab her legs and help us lift her into the crate.

"I really don't think-"

"Well if you don't think, then how can you know it's not a good idea?"

Tom looked completely baffled by Michael had just said, but seemed as though he lost the will to resist. He did as Michael asked and helped him and Riley to place Becky into the crate. Becky looked extremely peaceful laying the box, as if she was only sleeping. Her face soon disappeared when Michael put the lid of the crate on. He stood on top of the crate, pulled out a power drill and began to drill the nails into the crate, sealing it shut.

"You sent Tom that letter and got this crate ready?" Huey asked.

"Yup" he replied

"How did you know things wouldn't work out?"

"Well I figure it's for the same two reasons you went and got that katana ready"

"What are you going to do now?"

"Well since _someone_ around here won't let me start a fire, we're going to do this the hard way and ship her off"

"You can't just ship her off"

"Trust me, you can mail anything these days"

"Where are you going to send her?"

"Uruguay"

"You are going to mail human being to the other side of the world as they were somebodies postcard?"

Michael paused in his drilling and gave Huey an exasperated look. Huey stared back him with disappointment. Michael rolled his eyes and let an annoyed sigh. He then drilled two holes right in the middle of the lid.

"There, happy?" he asked. Huey merely stayed silent and allowed Michael to return to his drilling.

Huey walked back into the kitchen and freed Granddad, who was still trapped in the table. They walked back into the living. Huey filled Granddad in on what was happening, just as Michael had finished with the crate. As on cue the doorbell rang. Michael jumped off the crate and opened the door.

"Yo what up little man. You got a crate to ship?"

Riley's eyes lit up when he saw Thugnficent at the door with a sack barrow. "Oh man Thugnficent. What up man!"

"Yo young Reezy" he replied.

"Right this way" said Michael leading him to the crate. He set the crate inside the barrow with little trouble.

"Alright sign here" said Thugnificnet, handing Michael a clipboard. He diligently signed the board and handed it back to him.

"Whatever happens don't wonder what inside"

"They don't pay me to be asked question". He tiled the sack barrow and it with the crate outside the door.

"Oh man you should have seen it Thugnificnet" said Riley, following him out to his van. "This crazy bitch was all up there flying them daggers and shit, and I was all like not in my house bitch and I shooting them out before they's even get close and the-". Tom said his goodbyes to the others and he too proceeded out the door.

"Oh now look at the mess you boys made" complained Granddad, examining the living room. "I can't believe you be so-". He was stopped in his speech when he felt Huey nudged him at his leg. He gave Granddad a stern look before gesturing to Michael with his head. Granddad looked over at Michael and the back to Huey, who kept giving his grandfather a hard stare, as if expecting something. Granddad's face softened a little as he sighed and walked over to Michael.

"Uh Michael" he began awkwardly. "Listen, I just want to say uh….thank you. You know for uh helping us out today".

"Well your welcome" replied Michael, accepting his thanks respectfully.

"And…I'm sorry for trying to get rid of you like that" Granddad said softly. "I mean…when you first came here, you took us all by surprise and we didn't really know what say. But I guess it shouldn't have mattered how I felt. Cos this is your home now and… you're a part of our family"

"Wow" Michael said, impressed. For a minute he wasn't really sure how to respond to this sudden act of compassion by Granddad. However everything soon became clear again when Riley stepped back into the house.

"Yo Granddad, Thugnficent left you the bill" he said, handing Granddad a piece of paper and walking on. Granddad looked over the bill, before widening his eyes in shock.

"THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS!?" he screamed, outraged. "All that to ship one crazy hoe off to Uruguay!? What the hell's wrong with you boy?! This was your big plan? To make me spend all my money? It'd have been cheaper to let her take half my stuff. I knew I should have kicked you out the day you got here, you blockhead. You ain't nothing but trouble!"

Michael's earlier surprise was now gone and he simply took the brunt of Granddad anger with a look both disinterest and expectance. He looked over at Huey, who was shaking his head with disgust at Granddad's action. Michael simply closed his eyes and gave Huey a shrug of his shoulders. He then allowed Granddad continued to yell at him without saying a word back.

* * *

Next ones going to be awhile.


	11. Chapter 11

Okay so I got this done earlier than expected, however the next one _will _take a while to do.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Boondocks or any of its characters. I also don't own anything of Quentin Tarantino

?

Why am I saying that? Well I got the idea to do this from the "What" scene they used in one episode. If you are familiar with his films you'll probably understand it better than others. Please note that I don't hate Tarantino or his films. I actually think their pretty awesome. I'm merely making some jokes about them.

* * *

"Okay see you tomorrow" said Huey. He hung up the phone and entered his bedroom. Michael was sitting at the window looking out outside with his binoculars.

"What are you doing?" Huey asked.

"Watching Sarah undress next door" Michael replied honestly.

"You know I could tell Tom what you're doing" said Huey. "What then?"

"Then these are your granddads, Riley doesn't snitch and you're a filthy liar"

Huey raised an eyebrow at Michael's story. While he could easily disassemble it if he wanted to, for some reason he thought that Michael would still manage to get away with it, so he choose to forget about it.

"Was that you on the phone with Jazmine?" Michael asked Huey as he sat down on his bed.

"Yeah" he replied. "The movie theatres finally opened up again after the management closed it down due to the workers trying to form a union. Jazmine invited me to go there tomorrow to go see a movie."

"So you're going on a date" Michael said slowly.

"No" Huey said flatly.

"Seems like a date to me"

"It's not a date. You and Riley were invited too"

"You sure you want us to come? It would probably cramp your style"

"You don't have to come if you don't want to. Jazmines the one who invited you, not me"

"So basically you don't want us to come, because if we don't come then that will make it a date?" Michael turned to stare at Huey, who stayed silent at Michael's assumption as he returned the stare.

* * *

"Ha, can't believe this. You all are going to get ourselves ripped off at the movie theatre. If you let me take you, we would be seeing any movie we want for free"

"Granddad" Huey began, "Every time you takes us to the movies, we get arrested. Remember last time?"

"I remember you telling the employees to form a union and then they closed the place down" said Riley who was wearing a big bagging coat and pants.

"Yeah and _I_ remember we saw a movie for _free_" said Granddad pompously. "So what the hell you talking about?"

"What his problem?" Michael asked Huey.

"He feels the movie industry charges too much, so instead he tries to go see movies without paying"

"Why does he care if he needs to pay? Isn't he at the age where he's entitled to free money?"

"Hey there's nothing free about that money. I earned it!" said Granddad indigently. "All those years of hardship and struggle, without freedom. The only real crime is that I'm only getting it once a month. But it's good thing I never paid them back in the day, otherwise that would defeat the purpose of getting free money.

"It really doesn't take much to get him started does it?" Michael said to Huey, once Granddad had finished.

"No" said Huey.

Finally they arrived at the car park of the theatre which was moderately empty despite having just reopened. There was no sign of Jazmine who was going to be dropped off by Tom. Stopping the car, Granddad let Michael and Riley step out of the back seat, while Huey got out from the front.

"See ya boys. Have fun being ripped off". Granddad let out a snobbish laugh as he drove away, leaving the three boys alone in the parking lot. Michael took a wade of money out from his back pocket and began to flip through it.

"Where did you get that?" asked Huey.

"Took out of you granddad's wallet".

"Oh nice one" complemented Riley. "But I still aint paying for nothing in there. Know why? Cos Riley Freeman don't let nobody rip him off. And nobody in them movie theatres is gonna catch me at nothing-"

"Young Reezy! What up big baby!"

The three boys turned around in surprise to see a young white girl standing behind them, wearing a red hoodie and black cap, with a long blonde ponytail going down her back.

"Yo nigga" said Cindy McPhearson. "I heard you'd be here"

"Yo C-Murph" replied Riley. "What's the word girl?"

"The word is how you dressed fool. You go drop some belt sizes or what? Or are you some kind of hobo now?"

"Naw see I'm in disguise so that I don't get caught when I sneak into the movies. These fools here what to actually go and pay to see a movie. Guess they too scared to take the easy way"

Cindy took her eyes off Riley and looked over at Huey and Michael. "Hey what up Huezy! I could see you from all the way back with that big ass afro you got. Man how do you _stand_ nigga?" After she greeted Huey, she suddenly noticed Michael circling her.

"What the fuck is this fool?" she said.

"I take it your Cindy" Michael said once he had finished his run around her

"That's C-Murph nigga!" she said with a smile. "And I take you that arson fool I been hearing bout? Well Fire Starter let me ask you something. You know how to burn right, but do you how to _burn? _ You know how to take it to the court and bring the heat? Melting that tarmac and burning up some rubber. Got niggas stepping down on you but then the next minute they be like 'oh, hiss get me some ice cos this fool too hot to handle'".

Michael stared a Cindy for a second. He turned his head to Riley and then back to Cindy. "Wow, suddenly this makes a lot of sense"

"Hey guys!" called another voice. Huey turned to see Jazmine running up to them with a smile. She stopped for a minute while she panted from her running.

"You made it" she said once she caught her breath.

"Didn't know you were bringing Cindy" said Huey.

"Yeah I thought it would fun to invite her too. She's a lot of fun"

"She's a lot of something"

"So Jazmine" said Michael. "What's the occasion?"

"No occasion. I just thought maybe me and Huey could go to the movies now that it's open again. Then my mom said I should invite you guys too to be polite."

"Oh so you just wanted Huey" Michael said slyly.

"Yeah, but it's better when you have more people" she said innocently. "Anyway my dad's dropped us off and he'll pick all of us up later"

"So what are we going to see?" asked Michael as they made their way into the lobby.

"Monsters University" said Jazmine happily.

"Aw man. You got to be kidding" moan Riley. "That movie sucks"

"The first one was good" said Michael.

"It sucked" repeated Riley.

"What do you care? You're not even paying to go see it"

"Well well well, what do we have here?" said an all too familiar voice. The five kids looked up to see Unlce Ruckus walking down the lobby to meet them at the door, dressed in an usher uniform

"Good lord what to make of this? I don't know if I should throw you asses out of here or escort you to you seats. I literally could either way"

"What?" said Riley.

"I got me a group of young movie goers who are exactly one half black and one half white. Lord what a predicament. It like some insane fool made sandwich with one piece of delicious and wholesomely nutritious white beard and one piece of chunking nigga coloured bread, thinking they would balance each other out, but ohh Lord when will the world learn that one monkey is one monkeys too many"

"Just let us through" said Huey.

"Oh really? Well as I recall you three tried to steal some the white man's hard work and artistic talent with your sneaking nigga ways the last time you was here, but I tell you what I wont let you get away with it this time, I wont fail, I-"

"Look we are going to go pay, so will you please just do us a favour and go crawl into a hole and die" Michael said.

"Oh well I see. So you and this beautiful little white girl are taking these little monkeys out for a treat. Well that's real sweet of you. In that case, carry on and don't you worry. I'll catch these niggas the next time they try to steal some movies. Have fun now"

Ruckus allowed the kids to pass with smile, despite the look of contempt they gave him. He also seemed to ignore Michael fingering him as he walked past. When they reached the counter, Jazmine asked for five tickets for Monsters University. However the cashier said there were none.

"Why not?" asked Jazmine in disappointment.

"We have a new policy were we don't show any films that have good family qualities or are powerfully beautiful".

Jazmine moaned in sadness at not be able to see the movie she wanted.

"We can go see another movie" Huey said, trying to comfort her.

"Oh ohoh" Riley said in excitement, as something caught his eye. He ran down near the door of the theatre to stop in front of a large poster.

"Let's see this movie!"

The others joined him at the poster, which clearly depicted an action movie. It was lined with explosions, guns, swords and a host of tough looking characters. Huey noticed what was written at the bottom.

"This is the new Quentin Tarantino movie 'Too Much Merchandising'"

"Yeah" Riley said, still busting with excitement. "It's a crossover with his best movies. Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill and Django Unchained!"

"Riley this movie isn't going to be any good"

"Are you kidding nigga? It's got Django in it! Didn't you see the last movie bout him? He was the greatest hero in black history"

"He was purely fictitious character and was merely an overly violent personification of the blacks man growing resistance to the social norm of African slavery"

"Oh yeah what bout Catcher Freeman? Granddad said he was the one who did all that stuff and that Django was really based on him. You even said that Catcher Freeman was real so how come none of that stuff Granddad said is true?"

"The historical events of Catcher Freeman are different from each person who tells them, often being exactly same story yet entirely different based upon the tellers own experiences, thoughts and opinions. It's called the Rashomon effect"

"Man, Reezy's right" said Cindy crossing her arms. "You is a hater"

"We can go see this movie instead" said Jazmine. "It looks like fun"

"You _don't_ want to see this movie" said Huey.

"Ooooh" Cindy said. "What with this man. You trying tell my homegirl here what she should be watching?". Cindy moved beside Jazmine and placed her arm over her shoulders.

"My girl Jeezy can be seeing whatever movie she wants. You think you the boss of her. Naw man. She don't take that from nobody. Aint that right Jeezy?"

"Um I guess so" Jazmine said, trying to sound reasonable.

"Jazmine trust me, you shouldn't watch this move" said Huey.

"You gonna let him talk to you like that?" Cindy asked Jazmine.

"Well…no" she said quietly.

"Say what?" said Cindy, her hand behind her ear. "Oh I don't think I hear you girl"

"I said no" replied Jazmine, this time with a little more assertion.

"A little louder please"

"I said no!" Jazmine said, louder and with a note of anger.

"Oh sorry you say something?" taunted Cindy

"I. SAID. NO" she yelled stamping her foot on the ground. "I want to go see this movie!"

"Yeah yeah that my girl!" said Cindy proudly, punching Jazmine in the arm. "Democracy in action bitch!"

Huey stared at Cindy, his expression blank as always. He turned his head to Michael, who had remained silent.

"I'm fine with anything, as long as it isn't by M. Night Shyamalan".

The group returned to the counter, divided up their money and bought five tickets. When Huey asked why they were allowed to buy tickets for an over age movie, the cashier said that another new policy was that a group of three or more kids qualified as an adult. They then moved to pick up some snacks at the concession stand. Riley however refused to buy anything, instead choosing to eat the food he had hidden under his coat. Michael bought a large Coke and popcorn, while Jazmine got a smaller bag.

"You don't want to eat all that" said Huey.

"Why? Do you want some?" she asked. Huey simply asked the stand for a bottle of water and an empty popcorn bag. Once they were ready, everyone entered the screen for the movie and took their seat near the middle. They waited another ten minutes through the ads. Jazmine seemed to panic al little at the warning about stealing movies, until Huey reminded her that they paid this time. Finally the lights dimmed as the movie began.

_The first scene of the film opened, with Beatrix Kiddo kneeling in a pool of blood, a broken katana in her hand. A man slowly limped up to her, blood sprayed everywhere on his body. Beatrix looked up to see Django aiming his gun directly at her head. The camera panned out into the distance, showing Django shooting her. Beatrix fell to the ground dead. Django's lowered his gun and dropped to his knees._

"_It's finally over" he said._

The screen immediately turned to black and the credits began to roll, listing off each the writers and directors. For some reason everyone in the theatre chose to remain seated until the end of the credits as if the film was still going. When they finally reached the end, the screen abruptly changed once again.

"_And that's what they call a burger in Germany" said Samuel L Jackson. He was driving his car down a busy city road; dress in a black suit, clearly reprising his role as Jules Winnfield. In the passenger seat of the car was an unknown actor, dressed in the same attire as Jackson._

"_Wow that was a very long and interesting conversation we have just had" he said with an emotionless voice. "But what does it have to do with the events that have led up to us driving to our current destination with our pre-set goals in mind? You know in case someone was watching and they were wondering what was going on and who we were"_

"_It don't have fuck all to do with that" replied Jules with contempt. "It's called fucking conversation. And why the fuck do we have to say what we're doing and where we're going? If anyone is watching us then they can just enjoy watching us have an everyday conversation and figure what the fuck is going on later. That's the problem with storytelling these days. Why in under God's name do characters always have to only talk about stuff that is directly plot related? Why can't they just talk about what they had for breakfast or just every day shit? And that's what we're doing…if indeed someone was in fact watching us. Besides I'm sure we dropped hints of stuff that has happened already or will happen or has happened but it hasn't actually happened yet in the right chronology order from a viewing perspective"_

The film continued on for several minutes, with the plot or at least segments of the plot unfolding. Everyone looked like they were enjoying it so far. Riley was sharing his snacks with Cindy, while keeping an eye out for any ushers. Huey and Jazmine were silent for the most part, though Michael kept making comments about what was happening.

"I really think Jackson's acting is over the top. Also the pacing of this a little too slow"

"Shh" said Huey, as he was talking over the movie.

* * *

_Two men were sitting inside a bus that was traveling down a quiet country road. The sun was shining brightly through the left side of the bus, with the occasional tree providing some shade. The camera was focused intently on the two men and nothing else._

"_I don't really know what to say to that I'm afraid" said the old man with a moustache._

"_All you to say is a…. word" replied the younger man._

"_Yeah but what word?" said the older man. "You see there are so many, many words out there. And they all mean something. And sometimes they can mean something else entirely. Or they can mean two things. Or three things. Or four. Or five. And sometimes they mean nothing to the person who heard them. And even more sometimes, we don't know if they mean anything because no is around to hear. So tell how can we possibly know what the right word to say is?"_

"_The only way you can know the right word, is simply to open your mouth and say the word….that you think"_

"They have been talking for like an hour! Michael said with impatience.

"Shh" whispered Huey. He was watching the exchange with mild interest, while Jazmine had almost finished her box of popcorn. Both Riley and Cindy had fallen asleep.

"_Well maybe your right. But then maybe you're wrong. The only real truth is that…you may be right or you may be wrong and…nobody really knows if you're right or wrong."_

_The old man had finished his speech just as the bus stop at its destination. The camera panned away from the two men to reveal Beatrix Kiddo walking right past them with her katana in her hand. She exited the bus and stared straight into the camera with a steely gaze._

"_And now" she said with a slight rasp. "To go get….a drink of water. And then…..to go kill…..Django"_

"Is that supposed to make us think that all that was clever?" said Michael.

"Shh" Huey repeated.

* * *

_Beatrix and Django were now standing back to back inside the abandoned boxing gym surrounded by KKK members, Marsellus Wallace's men, ninjas and for some reason the SS. Django had both his guns at the ready, while the Bride raised her sword. There was a crack above them as a small chunk of concrete fell from the ceiling. It landed right on top of the old bell beside the ring. It let a loud ding that resonated throughout the building. _

_Everyone let out a battle cry and charged the lone guns man and swordswomen. The KKK members and ninjas went for Django, while the gangsters and SS went for Beatrix. A second before they were on them, Beatrix ducked down and went around Django as he swung his arm around to take a shot at the Bride's combatants. His bullets moved in slow motion as they went for the gangsters. As soon they made contact, the gangsters bodies completely exploded, sending blood and guts everywhere. The explosion blinded the SS who stood behind them. Django took advantage of their disability to roll forward and pick up two of the gangsters rifles now that his guns were empty. He fired once again hitting each one in the head and groin with his automatic fire. As each one was hit a river of blood poured out from between their legs and their necks became like a fountain, cover the entire screen with a tilt of blood._

_The Bride made short work of her opponents slicing off countless limbs, with blood spraying out from each stump like an actually hose. The KKK members tried desperately to shoot her couldn't see, either due to the blood in their eyes or the bad holes in their masks. They were soon shooting each other, ripping massive chunks of flesh off with each hit. The ninjas were able to avoid the fire, but were being quickly dispatched by the bride. She blocked each of their attacks from both swords and sticks. When she locked blades with one of them, she used her free hand to pluck one of their eyes. Another ninja attack from behind, but the Bride avoided the attack and then plucked out that ninjas eye. As two more ninjas charged her, she threw her sword into the air and used both hands to take eyes out from both ninjas._

Riley and Cindy watched the battle with excitement, shouting out encouragement.

"YEAAAH, go Django, fight racism!"

"Come on, Kill Bill. You my home girl"

Huey wasn't as impressed with the fight, mostly due to lack of realism. He did enjoy the Bride's sword play, but he was more concerned about Jazmine. She stared at the gore soaked screen with shock. As she saw yet another head explode, she began to turn green and put her hand to her mouth, her check pushing out. Huey handed her the empty bag he bought. She immediately took it and buried her face inside, returning her popcorn.

"Wow you really are a gentleman" said Michael, eating some popcorn. As the fight scene came to a close, Riley and Cindy gave it a round of applause. Riley paused when he noticed Ruckus entering the theatre. He immediately ducked down until the seat and pulled Cindy along with him. They both began to crawl under the seats and then snuck out through the fire exit before Ruckus reached their row.

"What this here" he demanded. He looked at Jazmine with suspicion as it looked like she would get sick again.

"She's not feeling well" Huey said in a low voice.

"Oh well I guess that makes sense, these high definition would terrible things to a half monkey brain. The colours, the detailed images, it's all far too much for any nigga to comprehend. Hell they can barely tell the difference between a rock and their own shit"

Michael cast a lazy glance over to Ruckus as he ranted. With his eyes half closed, Michael picked up the bag of vomit that Huey placed on the floor and filled the top of it with his popcorn He shook the bag around for a second and then moved himself out of his seat so he could reach across to Ruckus.

"Here, have some popcorn" he said, extending the bag. "As a gift"

"Oh well now thank you young Michael!" Ruckus took the bag as of it was a generous treasure. "Oh the white man truly is magnificent being. I'll just step outside and let you enjoy you movie"

Once he left Michael slid back into his seat and let put a breath of satisfaction. Normally Huey would have been against such an act, but he decided that the circumstances in this case were lenient enough to allow it. The movie now looked as though it was reaching its climax or looked like it was actually the middle part.

_Beatrix and Butch were facing each other, both armed with swords, inside a deserted ball park. At the same time, Django and Jules were facing each other off, each of them standing at opposite end of a bowling lane._

_The camera was now Beatrix's face._

"_Let's do this" she said._

"_Nigga" said Django, his face now in place of Beatrix. _

_Jules pulled out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. He then lit it with a match. After taking a whiff of smoke, he spoke._

"_Never send a bunch of white boys-"_

"_To do a boxers job" said Butch. He raised his sword to his chest._

"How the hell does a boxer even know how to handle a sword?" Michael asked.

"Shh" Huey said once again.

_With upbeat music playing, Beatrix and Butch ran at each other at high speed, their swords clashing in mid-air. The scene changed to Django pulling out both guns and shooting directly ahead at the screen in slow motion. The scene changed back to Beatrix as she blocked an attack from Butch. She lunged forward, only for him to dodge. The scene went back to Django who was still fire rapidly. Back to Beatrix again, matching every blow from Butch. They locked blades with each other, before jumping back. They stood perfectly still for another minute. A close up of Django, who seemed to have an endless amount of bullets. Finally, Beatrix and Butch charged at each other one finally time, taking a huge swing right past each other. They were frozen in place for a second. _

_Eventually Beatrix stood up straight, sheathed her katana and walked forward, with Butch completely unmoving. She kept walking until she reached the back door of the ball park. She opened it and walked back outside. As soon as she closed the door shut, Butch's body was bisected right down the middle, his blood pouring out like rain. _

_When Django finally ran out of bullets, he lowered his guns and looked ahead, his face etched with incomprehension. Jules hadn't moved in the slightest since Django began to fire. He looked down below and behind himself to see that every one of the bullets had missed him. He raised his own gun up and prepared to fire. However just as he was about to pull the trigger, a spear appeared literally from out of nowhere and hit straight in the chest. He looked down at the spear and collapsed to the ground._

"Wait, was this before or after the fight in boxing ring?" asked Michael.

"SHHHHH" whispered everyone in the room.

* * *

The movie had finally ended, or had just begun in some sense. Huey, Michael and Jazmine walked out of the screen, Jazmine still clutching her stomach. Huey, out of concern, put his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

"I'm going to go look for Riley and Cindy" he said and left Huey alone with Jazmine.

Michael walked outside the lobby of the theatre to search the car park for any sign of Riley or Cindy. He walked down the centre of the car park keeping his eyes opening for anything. He then moved around the back of the theatre but still couldn't find them. Finally he decided to walk back inside to meet with Huey and Jazmine. He walked casually up to the building with his hands in his pockets when he slowed down to a stop, like he had just noticed something amiss. He continued to stare straight ahead until he backed up a few paces and then turned to his side. A young Asian girl was standing in the car park a few yards away from him, her long dark hair blowing in the wind. She was wearing what seemed to be a girls school uniform with a short skirt and looking directly at him with a cold gaze.

"You are friends with Huey Freeman?" she asked.

"Well he's the closest thing to a best friend I have ever had. So yeah"

"Then you may tell him" she said, "that justice will soon rain down on his massive afro. And my lost honour will be restored"

Michael cocked an eyebrow at this girl and her message. He looked her dead in the eye and saw that whoever she was, her eyes were full of pain and anger. They held each other's gaze for a few minutes, as her forehead began to wrinkle.

"Turn to look at something else already" she said.

Michael did as she asked and looked behind him. He turned back to see she had disappeared.

"Oh goddamn it" he said, annoyed.

* * *

"Uhhh"

"Feeling any better?" Huey asked.

"A little" Jazmine replied weakly. She took another sip of the water Huey had taken from the tap for her, starting to feel her stomach settle again. They stood outside the door of the bathrooms in case Jazmine had to get sick again.

"Told you not to watch that movie"

"I know, but I just wanted everyone to have a good time"

"Even if that means you ruin it for yourself"

"It wasn't that bad" she said with a shrug.

"Well now aint this a fine little situation we found ourselves in"

Huey cringed, as one again he recognised that voice. He turned to look up at Ruckus standing behind with a giddy smile.

"It look like some white folk have lost their little monkey pets, but that's fine by me cos now you at least six eights too much black"

"We were just leaving" said Huey, motioning to Jazmine

"Oh you aint going nowhere. I know all about that little surprise you left in that bag of popcorn, innocent young Michael gave me. I know it was you, cos only nigga throw up tastes like that. White man throw up taste just the same as it was when it goes down. And you trying to steal some of the white man's water too huh? Oh I bet you though you could get away with it too, but oh no. You aint getting past ol Uncle Ruckus. And you aint getting off scot free like last time. Oh they will throw the book at you"

"We took that water from the tap" Huey said, annoyed.

"Oh, so you do confess to stealing some water. Oh Lord, wouldn't be confessing if you weren't guilty of something. I'm sure you stole some other things that are rightfully the entrainment properties of the white man"

"We didn't steal anything"

"Tell that to Mister Manager, that is if can understand you little monkey back talk"

Huey tensed up and put his hand behind his back, slowing pulling out the nun-chucks he brought with him. However he paused when he felt Jazmine's hand on his shoulder.

"Hold on Huey, he's right. We did steal a movie the last time we were here" she said. "We should get in trouble"

Huey rolled his head in disbelief at Jazmine's honesty, while Ruckus looked happier than ever.

"Hallulah! I knew I catch you eventually. That's a decent thing you doing there Jazmine, though it's probably because your half monkey brain makes you too stupid to lie"

"I know" she said, walking forward. "I'm really sorry for what we did back and then. And I rel-". Reacting faster than Huey thought was possible, Jazmine stopped in the middle of her sentence and threw her cup of water straight into Ruckus's face. Ruckus closed his eyes as the water hit him and rubbed his face with his hand.

"Oh Lord, my eye. My one good eye! Help me Lord I'm blind!"

As Ruckus panicked over his supposed blindness, Jazmine grabbed the still stunned Huey by the arm and tried to pull him into a run.

"Come on!" she laughed.

Huey followed her and quickly took the lead. He took her hand and ran with her to the main door. Huey pushed the door open and they both ran around the corner, ducking in behind a nearby car. They soon heard the sound of Ruckus banging his way of the lobby, screaming nonsense.

"Help! Help! Call animal control. We got two crazed niggas throwing water at people"

Huey and Jazmine peaked behind the car, watching Ruckus run in the opposite direction. They were panting a little from their running. Jazmine put her hands to her mouth to muffle her giggles. Huey gave her a calculating stare as he really had not been expecting her to do that.

"Why did you do that?" he asked.

Jazmine crossed her arms and made a face that would do Cindy proud. "I don't take that from nobody"

"Ruckus is behind you"

Jazmine dropped her composer and gave a small scream of fright. She turned around startled, but saw no one was there. She turned back to Huey with a smile and laughed again. Though Huey didn't return the smile, his face did soften a little as he listened to Jazmine laugh.

Once they saw Ruckus go back inside the building they walked out from the behind the car, they stepped out from behind the car. They waited there for a few minutes until Michael walked up to them.

"Where's Riley and Cindy?" Huey asked.

"Don't know" he replied.

"Yo turn around fool"

The three of them turned their heads to the side, as both Riley and Cindy came up to them.

"Where have you two been?" Michael asked.

"Yo check this out" said Riley. "Me and C-Murph first we gave them the slip back in the movie theatre. Next we saw Ed and Rummy out in the back and then we-"

"Save it" said Huey. "Out of time"

"What?"

"We're out of time"

"But I thought we still had another.."

"Tom's here". Huey pointed to Tom's car that was entering the car park.

"Ohhh" Riley moaned.

* * *

First Tom dropped the boys off at their house and then was going to take Cindy back to her place. As they were driving off, Cindy stuck herself out of the back window.

"Yo keep it real young Reezy!"

She waved goodbye with a hand gesture, her middle and ring finger in her palm and her pinkie and index finger extended.

"That Cindy is pretty cool" said Michael.

"Yeah" Riley said with a grin. "I told you she was a real gangster"

"I wonder why we don't see more her?*".

The boys made their way into the house and up the stairs, when Granddad beckoned them.

"Hey. Any of you see what happened to the money in my wallet?"

All three of them answered at the nearly the same time.

"No" said Huey.

"Uh uh" said Riley.

"Could not tell of the top of my head" said Michael.

Granddad scowled and continued his search, as the boys made it up the stairs.

"So Huey, did you enjoy your date?" Michael asked.

"First of all" Huey said. "It wasn't a date. Second of all, yes I did enjoy myself"

"Good to know" Michael nodded. "By the way I think I met someone who knows you"

"Who?"

"I don't know, some girl"

"What she say?"

Michael thought about it for a second before answering. "She said you had a big afro"

Huey raised his eyebrow in a quizzical expression and pondered what Michael said when they reached their room.

* * *

*That's something all the fans wonder about the show.


	12. Chapter 12

Okay so first a big thanks to everyone who has reveiwed, followed and favoured. Sorry for the wait, but I have some exams to prepare for. I did manage to take some time into this. This chapter was pretty hard to write for reason you'll probably figure out. By the way, if anybody thinks it unrealstic just remember I was trying to base it on one in the show. Enjoy

* * *

Boondocks Chapter 12

The sound of grunting and objects breaking echoed throughout the Freeman household. Michael was in the kitchen setting out a bowl and a box of cereal on the counter, seemingly oblivious to the noise.

Huey and Riley were engaged in another one of their fights, thrashing around the house and into the kitchen. Michael paid them no notice as he walked over to the fridge to get the milk. He opened the door and bent down to pick it up just as a piece of furniture came flying at where his head was.

"Come on, come on, what you got Huey!?"

Michael stood back up and walked back to the counter. He poured out the cereal and milk into the bowl. He then opened a drawer to get a spoon. He picked up the bowl in one hand and took a spoonful of cereal. There was the sound of blows trading and someone groaning. Riley stumbled backwards near Michael, who without taking his eyes off his breakfast, raised one leg up and swiftly kicked Riley back into the fray.

Michael then went into the living room, with his bowl of cereal in hand. He sat down on the couch and turned on the TV, while Riley was thrown across the room right in front of him. Michael ate his breakfast and watched the TV with content until the phone rang. Thinking that Huey and Riley may be too busy to hear it, Michael stood up and walked over to the phone.

"Hello" he said once he picked it up. The person on the other end spoke to Michael for a second before he responded. "Riley! It's for you!"

Huey and Riley ceased their struggle when they heard Michael called. He handed Riley the phone once he approached.

"Yo young Reezy here. Hey what up man! Yeah. Yeah"

Riley walked off as he talked to the caller. Michael returned to the couch and picked up his bowl again, while Huey took a seat beside him.

"So what were you two fighting about?" Michael asked curiously.

"He's up to something" Huey said, eyeing the direction in which Riley had gone.

"He's always up to something. As long there's only minimal chance he's going to get himself killed, it's best just to sit back and enjoy the show"

"There's always at least a 70 per cent chance he's going to get killed"

"I like those odds" Michael said with a smiled.

"Who was on the other end of that call?" Huey asked.

Michael was about to answer when Riley came back into the room, off the phone and with his trademark grin.

"Who was that?" Huey asked him.

"Yo fool, I don't need to tell you nothing bout my private phone conversation. You aint the government. "

"It was Ed Wuncler" Michael said.

"Fuck you" Riley mumbled.

"What are you up to?" Huey demanded.

"That's none of your business. I gots my own life and my own game. I don't need you butting in to everything I do"

"Whatever it is you're doing you better-" Huey was cut off in sentence by Michael who shook his head and raised his hand up. Huey looked at him surprise and stayed quiet as Riley left the room.

"What was that?" Huey asked Michael.

"If he doesn't what you butting, then don't butt in"

"He's going to get into trouble"

"Probably" Michael said as he took another spoonful of cereal. "But privacy is privacy. If he doesn't want to say or share anything then that's his right"

"What if something is wrong?"

"Then pry away at it" Michael shrugged. "But as long as he isn't hurting from it, then he can keep it to himself"

"I can't just let this go" Huey shook his head.

"Privacy is privacy" Michael repeated, finishing his cereal. "Respect it"

* * *

Sometime later, Huey stood in front of his tree looking out over Woodcrest. It had been here in a while and decided to take a stroll for some time to himself. As Huey stared off into the horizon, he closed his eyes and let his mind wander as he thought of the world, life and things in general.

"Even though I follow you everywhere, I think anyone can tell that you'll always come back here sooner or later"

Huey opened his eyes and turned around to see the White Shadow standing underneath the tree. Huey still wondered occasionally whether or not this man was real or if he really was just a figment of his imagination.

"What do you want" Huey asked, turning back to the horizon.

"Oh nothing really" the man replied. "Just thought I'd stop by and see how you were doing"

"Shouldn't you know if you're always watching me?" Huey asked dryly.

"Well even we can't see what goes on inside that head of yours. And nothing wrong with just asking how you're doing"

"I'm fine"

"Really?" he said with his impassive voice. "Well that's good to know, what with everything that's happened around here recently. You saved a tree. Your Granddad got married to a crazy bipolar bitch. You finally made a move on that cute little girl you have a crush on. And most of all, how you have a certain new arrival staying at house now"

"What do you know about Michael?" Huey said, turning around to face him once again.

"I know he likes to start fires. I also that he is very unwanted little boy"

"He's my friend"

"He may be your friend, but that doesn't mean trust him now does it? And like everything else in the world you're keeping a close eye on it until it jumps up at you and fucks you in the face"

"You're not even real. You can only know and say things that I either know or suspect"

"Do you really believe that? Because if you recall I warned you about them coming for you and I was right"

"I always suspected that they would be coming for me eventually"

"Well in that case, if I am just a paranoid delusion created by you and I'm here warning about Michael Ringer, then that must mean I am actually a subconscious part of you that does indeed suspect him, which is a real good thing if you want to protect your family"

"What do mean?"

"Let's just say inheritance can a real motherfucker. Anyway, keep both eyes on him Huey. And when the time comes to choose between your family and your so called friend, let's hope you know what you really should do".

The White Shadow walked backwards and the moved in behind the tree. Huey wasn't going to bother to look there, because he knew he would already be gone. He considered everything that the White Shadow had just told him and once again began to question his own state of mind.

* * *

A few days later Huey and Riley had taken a run to the store by themselves, while Granddad went to the park to play checkers with Ruckus and Michael stayed at home. They collected items that each one thought were essential to have in the house, though it's clear there was a big difference in opinion.

"Come on Huey. Why the hell get I get some bears?"

"Because you're too young to drink" he said.

"I'm going to drink them all myself, they be for to share with Granddad and Thugnificent. Man now I can even share my stuff with those I love and respect. That's mess up Huey"

Huey shook his head in exasperation, unable to even think of reasonable come back. They paid for their items, while Huey managed to remove Riley's without him seeing. With each of them carrying a bag, they walked out of the shop. When a just a few feet outside the door, a small round and black object was throw from an unseen direction to right at their feet. Huey only needed a second to register what the object was. Dropping the bag he grabbed Riley around his shoulder and pulled him down to the ground as the grenade exploded.

Huey could feel his ears ring from the blast and slowly wobble himself back to his feet. He turned to the side to see a tall man dressed in black and wearing a mask charge at him with a baseball bat, hitting him in the head. Huey fell to the ground and kept his eyes open enough to see the man, grabbed Riley and put him a large sack. He threw the sack over his shoulders and then rushed over to a van that appeared in front of the shop. He jumped inside the sliding down and closed it as the van began to speed away.

Huey picked himself up and gave chase to the van as it went outside the parking lot. He followed it as it ran around the corner of the block, but when he caught up he saw that it was already speeding down the road. Huey watched it go intently, thinking about his brother and what could be behind this.

"Well was pretty close call wasn't it?"

Huey turned to see the White Shadow stepping out of an ally way and walked up to face Huey.

"What the hell just happened?" Huey demanded.

"It looks to me like your brothers been kidnapped"

"Why?"

"I don't know" he said vaguely. "Could be for any number of reasons. Could be for ransom, could be for revenge. Or perhaps it could be because of that lockbox that you 'friend' keeps in your room"

"What does that have to do with this?" Huey asked.

"Well, it could have nothing to do with it or it could have everything to do with. The actually answer here is an, I don't know, since you don't even know what Michael keeps in that box of his. You ever hear of FlashForward? It was this big budget sci-fi/family sitcom about visions and kangaroos. In it one character mentions the Schrödinger's cat theory. It's about how if you put a cat in a box with a poison fish, then there are two outcomes. One the cat eats the fish and dies or the cat doesn't and lives, but the only way to know is to look inside the box. And maybe if you show me what's in that box, I'll help you find your brother"

"If you want that box, why don't you just take it yourself?"

"Oh I certainly could. In fact I considered doing it while I was taking a shit in your toilet the other day. But that's me. I know I would take it. The real question here is Huey, would _you_ take, if It was to save your brother's life? Would you put your family over your friend? Or can you tell the difference. Just some food for thought".

The White Shadow walked to the other side of the road just as another car went by, cutting him off from Huey's line of sight. When it passed, he was gone. Huey was left alone on the pavement, contemplating what he should do next.

* * *

Huey pushed open the front door and ran into the hall. He found Michael sitting at the table in the kitchen, working on a sukudo puzzle. Huey walked up to him with a stern face.

"I need your lockbox"

"...What?" Michael looked up from his puzzle with disbelief.

"I need your lockbox" Huey repeated.

"You can't have it"

"Riley is in trouble and I think that whatever's in your lockbox might be a part of it" Huey explained.

"Right" Michael said in understanding. "Except you can't have it". He returned his attention back to his puzzle. The room had gone silent, save for the scratching of Michael's pen

"I_ need_ your lockbox" Huey said a low, but powerful voice.

Michael raised his head up at Huey again and looked him dead in the eye with an unrelenting face. "No" he said in an equally low voice.

Huey gave him a hard stare, before turning around and leaving the kitchen. He walked up the stairs and entered the bedroom. He scanned the room, until he found the black lockbox hidden in Michael's corner of the room. He examined the box and could see no immediate way to open it without a key, but he could he figure that out later. With the box in his hand, Huey walked out of the bedroom and into the hall. He found Michael was there waiting for him, his face calm yet held some edges of anger around it.

"Put down my lockbox Huey" he said.

"Look" Huey said. "I don't want to invade your privacy, but I need to think about my brother. So please just let me see what's in here"

Michael walked forward to stand right in front of Huey and didn't break eye contact with him. "Put…it….down".

"I can't"

"I know" Michael nodded. "Then neither one of us can regret this"

Moving fast, Michael struck at Huey with a right hook, which Huey quickly blocked with his arm. Michael took another shot at Huey with his left hand, but he moved his head back to avoid it. Michael then tried for a third time to hit Huey, but this time Huey ducked underneath his swing. Huey followed up with his own right jab, aiming at Michael's face with a karate chop. However Michael ducked down to the floor and charged Huey's mid-section. He warped his arms around Huey's waist, locking them together with one hand on his wrist. Taking him by surprise, Michael pushed Huey forward into the wooden railing beside the stairs. They broke straight through it falling down to the floor below.

Huey landed first, his grip releasing on the handle of the box as soon as he hit the ground. Michael had bounced off Huey when they hit the ground. He stood back up and raised his fists in a fighting position. Huey also stood up and took a stance. Both Huey and Michael now stared each other down, preparing for whatever the other was about to throw at them.

Huey made the first move and jumped forward, swinging his right leg at Michael. Michael ducked backwards to avoid the hit, but taking advantage of his opening, Huey struck at Michael's left side with his fist, hitting him in the face with a swift punch. Huey then raised his right leg up and kicked Michael across the other side of his face. Finally Huey spun himself around with right leg raised and kicked Michael in the face for a second time.

Huey lowered his foot and remained where he was, as Michael walked back a few feet, his face still pulled back. Michael then slowly turned his head back to Huey, with an unperturbed face. Some blood trailed down from Michael's mouth. He then cracked his neck to the side and raised his fists up. Huey furrowed his brow in some worry.

Huey took another kick at Michael this time going for his lower side. Using his left hand Michael pushed Huey's kick down when it was about to reach him. Huey then jabbed at Michael with his right hand, but Michael parried the attack upwards with his left arm, sending it upward. He then moved forward and took a low swing with his right fist, striking Huey in stomach with a strong uppercut. Huey widened his eyes and opened his mouth as he coughed out some spit from the force the punch. He could even feel himself left off the ground by a few inches. Huey put both arms around his stomach as he stumbled back. Michael then quickly grabbed Huey shoulders with his hands and pulled him forward, striking him in the stomach with his knee.

Huey grunted in pain from the attack and was momentarily helpless as Michael threw him into the nearby wall. The second he hit the wall Michael grabbed Huey by the collar and held him in place as he punched his face into the wall. Michael pulled his arm back and punched again. And again. And again. Huey felt his vision begin to blur from the strength of each punch. Michael was about hit Huey for a fifth time, but just when his fist was an inch away from his face Huey stopped it by clasping Michael's wrist with both his hands. Michael let go of Huey's collar as he tried to move back, but Huey then ran up along wall at lightning speed and landed right behind Michael, twisting his arm back with him. Michael dropped down to one knee, as Huey twisted his arm around again, trapping him in a submissive hold.

Michael lowered his head down and it seemed as though he was about to give in, until he suddenly pushed himself upward, hitting Huey in the face with the back of head. Once Huey had loosened his grip, Michael struck him with his elbow, first in his side and then then in the face, knocking Huey to the ground. Huey lay on the floor for a second, as his head continued to spin. He opened his eyes to Michael jump off the wall and into the air, with his elbow pointing down. Huey rolled out of the way just before Michael landed on him. Huey then stood back up, his hands raised, and ready for another bout.

The two of them then charged forward at the same time and began to match each other blow for blow. Michael threw his right fist at Huey, but he swatted it away with his right hand and then jabbed at Michael with a left hook. Huey then gave him a right hook, but Michael blocked it with his upper arm. Huey tried again with his left hand, but this time Michael grabbed his arm as it was extended and struck Huey across the face with his fist. Michael threw another punch at Huey, but Huey moved to the Michael's side as he came forward. Michael quickly pulled his arm back and tried to hit Huey in the head with his elbow, but Huey blocked it with both his arms raised as a shield. Using his other hand, Michael then hit Huey's lower stomach while his arms were still up, but then Huey swung both his hands at Michael's head, hitting him on both ears simultaneously.

Michael groaned as he moved backwards, grabbing his head. Huey then tried to give Michael a round house kick to the head, but Michael recovered fast enough to block it with the back fist of his left hand and the open palm of the other. Michael threw another left swing that Huey blocked with his right arm. However Michael then raised his opposite leg and kicked Huey in the head on his other side. Huey tried to block the kick with just one arm but it wasn't enough and he spun in the air as he fell down, landing on his front. Huey pushed himself up with one arm, now beginning to feel a pan of fatigue coming over him. Huey's eyes wandered over to a small open cupboard. He saw a small yet thick looking book. Right beside it was a DVD box set of The Bourne Identify series. An idea came into his head.

Huey jumped back up, with the book in his hand. Taking the side of the book, Huey stuck Michael in the throat with the spin. Michael coughed as he grabbed his throat. Huey followed up with a slap to the face with the book and punched him with the back of the book, pushed by his fist.

"Rip off" Michael croaked. Huey raised his leg up and kicked Michael squarely in the chest, sending him flying straight into the kitchen.

Huey ran into the kitchen just as Michael stood back up. Once he was close enough Michael took a left jab at Huey, but ducked to the side and grabbed his arm. Holding his arm out Huey punched Michael in face and in his side underneath his arm. Michael then took a right jab Huey, which was also blocked and countered with an open palm thrust to his chest. Huey then hit Michael again, twice in the face, his stomach and finally gave another kick to the chest, this time sending up an arc in the air. Michael landed with a loud crash onto the kitchen table, breaking apart as he fell through it. He showed no signs of getting back up.

Huey put his hands on his knees and he panted heavily, completely exhausted. He had never fought Michael before and now he knew that Michael was one tough opponent. The next time they fought, Huey would need to be on his edge. Collecting himself, Huey began to limp back to the hall, where he found the lockbox. Picking it up, he walked over to the door. He pulled it open and was about to step outside when he suddenly stopped. He stood in the doorway for a minute and looked back inside the house with some regret. Huey looked down at the ground and closed his eyes tightly.

Michael lay on the broken table, staring up at the ceiling pensively. He heard Huey open the front door and the nothing. He now waited for confirmation. He then heard the front door close once again and closed his eyes in acceptance. He opened them again when he heard a clanking sound right beside him. Michael turned his head to the side to see Huey setting down the lockbox beside him and taking a seat on the floor.

"This aint right" Huey said quietly.

"You really believe that?" Michael asked.

"I wanted to help my brother, but I ended up becoming something worse"

"I'd say" Michael grunted. "You ended up becoming something better"

"But what Riley?" Huey asked.

"Well that's….regretful" Michael said vaguely. "We can mourn for a while but I sure we'll move on in about three to four weeks-"

"Yo what the fuck happened here?"

Huey looked up to see Riley entering the kitchen, completely unscathed and examining the destruction that had taken place.

"Riley!" Huey said in surprise. "You're okay?"

"Of course am okay? What the fuck wouldn't I be?"

"I saw you get kidnapped!"

"Oh no see that was Ed and Rummy" he said with a grin. "See Nolan Gould is coming to town right, so they be thinking about kidnapping him, but then Rummy be like, no we gots to practice cos you know practice makes perfect, so I say to them, yo what do ya'll try to kidnap me and they be like oh yeah, buts you know they don't tell me when it happens so today when they got I really wasn't ready for it you know. I think I even shit myself a little, hahaha. So what the fuck is with you two huh?"

Huey and Michael stared at Riley in anger. They exchanged a quiet look with each other the back to Riley.

"Get em"

Rising up from the ground, Huey and Michael ran at Riley who screamed in fear and ran down the hall as they chased after him.

* * *

Once again Huey stood in front of his tree looking out at Woodcrest, still reeling both mental and physically over what happened, though he had another reason for being here.

"Wow you look like you been through a shit storm"

Huey turned to face the White Shadow, who gave him a small grin.

"Figured you'd show up here" Huey said.

"Good observation" he replied. "Though if you wanted to talk then you could have just asked, considering that I'm always watching you"

"I just realised something. You were right, you really are just a paranoid delusion I made up from my own suspicions. I guess this means I really am a sick person"

"Believe me Huey" the White Shadow said. "I've seen some really sick freaks out there in my time and you don't even come close"

Huey stared up at the man for a minute in silence aside from the wind blowing past them. It was then Huey glanced to the side to see Michael walking the hill straight in front of him. Huey looked back at the White Shadow who remained where he was, but Huey didn't really care knowing that Michael wouldn't see him.

"Thought I'd find you here" Michael said once he reached the top of the hill. He stood right beside the White Shadow. Michael glanced over in his direction and then back to Huey.

"Who's he?" he asked.

Huey opened his mouth slightly in shock at what Michael had just said. He looked back and forward between the two of them

"You….you can see him?" Huey asked.

"Yeah" Michael replied, uncertain. "Why wouldn't I?"

"So…" Huey said, looking over at the White Shadow. "You're real?"

"Told you I was didn't I?" he replied.

"So you really are watching me all the time"

"Yes I am"

"Whoa I'm I missing something here?" Michael asked.

"I am, as Huey so named me, the White Shadow" he said. "I'm a special agent who keeps an eye on Huey. I spoke to him, just before your little melee combat and just suggested that maybe he should take a peek inside that little lockbox of yours"

"You manipulated me" Huey growled. "Why?"

"Oh because I can. Because I know you Huey. Because I wanted to see if there really is something special about and as it turns out there isn't"

"Hey Hugo Weaving" Michael said. "I've always like to think that intelligence is subjective, but it seems like your one dumb fuck. You spend all that time watching Huey and you don't seem to know jack shit about him"

"Really? You going to defend him after he almost stole that little secret you're so desperate to keep safe?"

"Yeah, but he didn't follow through. Because that's who he is, man. He's a smart guy who does what he has to do. And what he usually has to do is normally the right thing"

"Well" he said with a raised eyebrow. "You really seem to have a lot of faith in him. Let's see if that holds out to be true". With that the White Shadow walked in behind the tree and vanished.

"You really mean that?" Huey asked.

"Of course" Michael replied. "Look man, I only came up here to tell you, am not mad at you for what you did. You were only doing what you thought was right. That's all anyone can do. And they got to do until the bitter end. Unfortunately ever once in a while some people will end up colliding with each other and when that happens, you just have to clean up the mess afterwards."

"Even if you forgive me" Huey said solemnly, "that doesn't mean I can forgive myself"

"Yourself will get over yourself. He's a pretty decent guy. So, we cool?" Michael raised a fist up in the air and held it in front of Huey. Huey looked down at his fist for a second before bumping it against his own.

"Yeah, we cool"

"Good" Michael said. He lowered his fist down again and looked Huey straight in the face. However in just a split second, Michael thrust himself forward and head-butted Huey in the face, causing him to fall back to the ground. Huey sat up clutching his nose, as it began to bleed. Michael stood over him, with some blood on his forehead.

"But don't _ever_ touch my lockbox" he said while pointing him finger down at Huey, who gave no response but to close his eyes and lay back on the grass with a quiet groan.

* * *

In dimly lit room, a young girl kneeled in a circle of medium sized red balls. She slowly rose to her feet and took a deep inhale. There was a creak heard behind her, as a wooden board with a target painted on appeared out of the ground. Grabbing on of the balls, the girl threw it at the board at an incredible speed, sending the ball straight through the wood. Soon a series of targets appeared on all around the room. The girl began to hit each one with perfect accuracy. Finally a wooden dummy fell down from the ceiling, suspended by some rope. The dummy was particularly small and seemed to be wearing an afro wig.

The girl picked up one last ball and threw at the dummy with a vicious grunt, knocking its head clean off. The dark haired girl watched as the head rolled right at her feet.

"I am ready, Huey Freeman" she said with a dark venom in her voice.


	13. Chapter 13

Boondocks Chapter 13

It was a bright sunny day in Woodcrest, the heat perfectly balanced out with a light cool breeze. The kids were outside the house, enjoying the beautiful day. Riley and Cindy were playing basketball in front of the garage, while Jazmine was cheering them on. Huey was sitting on the doorstep, hunch over in a book. Michael was lying beside him, playing a DS.

"Oh yeah. You getting scared fool?" Cindy taunted at Riley. "You need to lie down? Huh?"

Riley said nothing as he dribbled the ball, Cindy blocking his path. Eventually he managed to side step her and tossed the ball into the hoop. It landed right on the rim and wobbled for a second, before falling straight through it.

"Woohoo! Go Riley" Jazmine yelled.

"Uh oh I must be in trouble now!" Cindy said picking up the ball. She backed up a few feet as Riley pushed into her.

"Oh how am I gonna get by? How am I gonna get by? How bout-". She jumped into the air and threw the ball with a flick of her wrist, too high for Riley to catch. It went straight through the hoop.

"Oh yeah baby. Swiss!"

"All right! Go Cindy!"

"Jasmine, you can't cheer for both of them" Huey said, without looking up from his book.

"Why not?" she asked.

"You have choose the side you want to see succeed and give them your support"

"But can't I want both of them to win?"

"No" he said flatly. Over in the driveway, there was the sound of the ball falling through the hoop once again, followed by Cindy letting out another pompous cheer.

"Uh huh, what's my name? What's my name?" she chanted. Riley remained silent and held a sour expression as she continued to gloat. Eventually, Cindy stopped her gloating and looked over to the doorway where the others where.

"Yo Huezy! How bout you get up off yo feet and on the court fool? Play me and Reezy sum two on two"

"No" he said dismissively.

"Ooooh. What's the matter you sacred fool? You see me and my skills up in here and you too chicken to come and get some?"

"I haven't even been watching you play, because I already knew how it would turn out. I just don't have any interest in playing"

"Ha" Cindy scoffed. "All I hear is 'I'm too chicken to play'"

"Man, Huey" Riley said. "You making me look bad here. How can real players take me seriously when my own brothers nothing but a chicken?"

"I said no" Huey repeated.

"Come on" said Jazmine, taking Huey by the arm. "It'll be fun!". She pulled him up from the ground and despite his obvious reluctance he didn't try to resist her. They walked onto the driveway, where Cindy passed him the ball. He eyed it carefully before looking back up.

"I need someone else to play with" Huey said.

"I can play with you" Jazmine said.

"If I am playing, I'm not having you on my team. You're terrible"

"R-really?" she said softly.

"Yes" Huey said without any sympathy. He turned back to Michael, who was still playing his DS.

"Michael, you want to a play on my team?"

"Nope" he said simply.

"Come on Fire Starter!" Cindy said. "Get yo game on!"

"I refuse to play" he said.

"Why?" Huey asked.

"I refuse to participate in competitive sports"

"Why?" Huey asked again.

"Because" Michael said, "I find that they are insignificant, a needless overexertion of energy and are built around the sole purpose of destroying the self-esteem and aspirations of others"

There was silence in the driveway, except for the beeping sound of Michael's DS and the occasional chirp of a bird.

"….What?" was all Riley could say.

"Too much effort" Michael replied simply.

"So aint gonna play?" Riley asked.

"No"

"Oh come on Michael. You can't just seat on the side lines like some bitch. That's worse than being a chicken."

"Uh huh" Michael said, his eyes still fixed on his DS. Riley took the ball out of Huey's hands and started bouncing it on the ground.

"So you just going to give up without even trying because it's too hard. What the hell are you, French?"

"No"

"Yeah well you sound a big ol pussy who won't even get off his ass to defend himself when he's gettin his skills laughed at. So you can seat there and play yo little game, but the real players will up here on the real court playing the real-"

What ever happen next was so fast nobody could even figure out what it was. Riley suddenly jumped backwards and fell to the ground, as something flew straight past his head. There a loud bang as it struck the garage door, making a massive dent. Everyone, including Michael, turned their heads to the smoking object sticking out of the door.

Huey walked over to the object and tried to pull it out, but it burned his hand as soon he touched it. Michael put down his DS and walked up to door. He put both of his hands on the object and pulled it out of the door, somehow ignoring the sizzling heat. Once he held it up in his hands, everyone could see the mysterious object was it fact a red rubber ball.

"Mm friction" he concluded after he examined the ball for a minute. He then turned his head to the dent in the garage door which now had burn marks around the edges. Michael ran two fingers down the marks and then rubbed them together with his thumb.

"Nice scorching" he said, impressed.

Huey started to scan the area for any sign of who could have thrown that. He saw no one but in the back of his mind there was only one person her suspected was capable of throwing a ball like that.

"Hey! What the hell is wrong with you kids!?" yelled Granddad sticking his head out of the window. "You busting up my house with that damn ball? You knock it off or else I'll get my belt on all of y'all"

* * *

The next day the boys went to school and there were no further incidents. One the day was done they all walked home together, Huey on the right, Riley in the middle and Michael on the left.

"So you telling me that it's pointless to play in a sport because you know you gonna lose?" said Riley.

"No" Michael said impatiently. "What I mean is that I think it's pointless to do something were you objective to make someone else lose"

"That's why they call it winning man! You'd rather lose than win?"

"I'd rather not get involved, because not everybody is going to walk away happy. You ever see what happens with fans when their teams lose? They go ape shit and treat them a like a bunch of worthless bastards"

"That cos they are man" Riley said. "How else do explain why they lose?"

"They lost just because the other team just did a little better. All those sports movies where the underdog team wins because they 'believe' in themselves are bullshit. That can never happen. You win because you do better, but only by the smallest margin. It can just go as easily the other way and then you'd be the ones you are the disappointment. Nobody can be happy"

"A game by definition has to have winners and losers" Huey said. "Somebody has to win and somebody has to lose"

"Are you're okay with that? You don't think about how the other team must feel? You don't think there in the exact same positions as you and feel the same way about losing as you do? There's no middle ground for anyone. They either get respect or they get contempt"

"Of course they get contempt. They the losers" Riley said with emphasise. "You aint suppose to feel bad for them. Its not your fault if they suck. See me, I aint ever gonna be a loser. I'm gonna win every game I ever be in and that'll show them other chumps how it's done. When they lose, then they can be looking me and be like oh damn now that's how real niggas play. They see that and they then know how they should be pla-"

So the second time in a row, Riley was cut off mid-sentence as something round, red and moving very fast stuck him directly in the face, knocking him to the ground. Michael and Huey stopped right on the sidewalk and looked down in-between themselves to see Riley out cold on the ground with another red ball rolling on the pavement beside him. They then looked back up at each other before simultaneously turning in the direction of where the ball came from.

Down at the corner of the sidewalk was a dark hair, Asian girl with a cold demeanour. Huey frowned, recognising her instantly.

"Hey I know her" said Michael.

"You do?" Huey said in surprise.

"Yeah that's the girl I met at the movie theatre"

"Her?"

"Uh huh. The one who said you had a big afro. Also now that I think about it, she also said she wants to exact her vengeance on you. So I take it she's old girlfriend?"

"This is Ming. She was a member of a Chinese kickball team that came to Woodcrest. We played against each other in a game that would decide if the Chinese's would take over this town. I beat her on the field and she went back to China"

"That's right" she said walking up to them. "And now I have returned to reclaim what you took from me. When you defeated me, I was shamed and disgraced beyond measure. My family couldn't even stand the sight of me. In their eyes I was nothing but a-".

Ming abruptly stopped in her monologue when she noticed Michael circling her. Just when he was about to complete a run around her, she spun her left leg and kicked him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Michael slowly pushed himself back up and looked over at Huey as he rubbed his jaw.

"Oh I like her" he said with a smile.

"I was nothing but a failure" she continued. "All those years of training and effort. They all meant nothing. So now I will take it all back. I challenge you Huey Freeman to a game of dodge ball"

"Dodge ball?" he repeated. "I thought you played kickball"

"In my country, when one has suffered a humiliating defeat in kickball the only way to restore honour is through a no holds bar dodge ball tournament. I have been training for months for this day and this time _you_ will fall to me"

"No" Huey said.

"You may think you can win" she said, "but-"

"No I mean I don't except your challenge"

"What?" she said angrily.

"I'm retried. Besides I don't dodge ball"

"There is very little difference. You can't refuse. You owe me this"

"I owe you nothing" he said callously. "You are the one who wanted to play me. It's not my fault you couldn't take it and now you have live with your mistakes"

"This…is _not_ over" Ming said slowly.

"Yes. It is" Huey said. He moved forward, walking right past her, without a sideways glance. As he walked away, Michael picked up Riley, who was still out cold and slung him over his shoulders, following Huey down the street. As Michael walked past Ming, he turned his head around to her. He then gave her a slow wink, as he made clicking sound with his tongue and pointed his finger at her. She gave him no warm response, but to watch him walk around the corner with Huey.

"I must say" Michael said, once they were a few blocks away. "I am very disappointed in you Huey"

"Why?" he asked.

"Well the fact that you go and see someone else behind Jazmines back. I really thought better of you"

"I wasn't seeing anybody" Huey said, slightly annoyed. "Ming and I only played one game of kickball"

"Yeah well, _she_ certainly didn't forget about you did she?"

They continued walking down the street, Riley moaning away on Michael's shoulders.

"So why didn't you accepted her challenge?" Michael asked.

"I'm retired. I don't need to play her again"

"Well something tells me she isn't going to take no for an answer. But it's probably for the best. Nothing good would ever come out of playing her again."

Huey stayed silent as they continued walking. Eventually they made it back to the house. Once they stepped onto the lawn, Michael dropped Riley down onto the grass and left him there as he walked up to the door. Huey looked at Riley and then over at Michael with his usual disapproving stare.

"What?" said Michael defensively. "I carried him all the way home didn't I?"

* * *

"I'm coming. I'm coming" yell Granddad as he walked up to the door. "God damn it I swear of your them Jehovah's Witness then I-"

Granddad opened the door and lost his voice when he plainly saw that it wasn't any Jehovah's Witness, but rather an old Asian man in a suit, with Ming at his side.

"Hello" he said pleasantly. "Is this the Freeman residents?"

"Yeah" said Granddad.

"May we come in? I have a proposal I would like to share with you"

"Uh sure". Granddad moved to the side and let them enter. He led them into the dining room, where they both took a seat at the table.

"I am Long Dou" said the old man once Granddad took the seat in front of him. "You might remember me and my granddaughter Ming from last year's kickball game"

"Oh right" Granddad said in understanding. "I remember that. Hey wait a second you were the guys who tried to buy the town and take away my porn."

"That's right" replied Mr Long Dou. "But this time around we have some business with your grandson"

"I sure whatever he did he's very sorry for it" Granddad said plaintively. "And I promise I will beat his stupid little ass with my belt. Riley! Get in here so I can beat yo ass!"

"On no. I mean your eldest grandson Huey"

"Oh okay. Huey! Get in here do I can beat yo ass!"

A few minutes later Huey entered the dining room and immediately set his eyes on Ming and her grandfather. He took a seat next to Granddad and was directly opposite Ming.

"Ah the great Huey Freeman!" said Mr Long Dou. "So glad you could join us. Now I will like to get the point". He turned his head back to Granddad.

"I would like to formally challenge your grandson to a game of dodge ball against my granddaughter"

"You want to play Huey in a game of dodge ball?" Granddad said.

"Not exactly" replied Mr Long Dou. "It would a six player team match. Your grandson's team against my granddaughters. You see ever since that embarrassing kick ball incident, Ming has more or less lost all chance she had of making anything of herself back home aside from being a waitress or prostitute, which are essentially the same thing. So that's why we would like your grandson to give her chance to redeem herself"

"Well I guess that sounds fair, just a friendly little game"

"I aint doing it" Huey said.

"Ming said you said that" said Mr Long Dou. "That's why we're going to make it a little interesting. We'll set up a little wager, that if you win you'll receive fifty thousand American dollars in cash"

Huey remained completely unconvinced, even after the mention of money. Granddad on the other hand looked as though he was about to jump out of his seat.

"Fifty thousand dollars!? Sweet Jesus. I can buy yacht for myself. Huey you go outside and play with this generous little cutie pie"

"What happens if I lose?" Huey asked, ignoring his granddad.

"As my granddaughter set these terms out herself, if you lose you have to publicly shave your afro"

Huey stared coldly at the old man, then to Ming who was grinning broadly. "Hell. No".

"Oh hell yes" said Granddad. "You winning me that fifty grand boy. It's about time to start pulling your weight around here and provide for the family. Besides that afro of yours is too damn big anyway, so you might as well shave it"

"I'm not playing. Especially if it means I lose my afro"

"We'll give you some time to think it over" said Mr Long Dou, motioning for his granddaughter to leave. He handed Granddad a card with his number and walked to the door.

* * *

"So if you lose, you have to shave off your afro?" Jasmine asked. She and Huey were outside of her house, sitting on the doorstep.

"Yeah". Huey stared at Jazmine as she kept a straight face. In just under a minute is burst out laughing. As she kept laughing, Huey avoided eye contact with her feeling a small sting of embarrassment.

"You would look so funny! Hahaha"

"Shut up" Huey murmured quietly.

Once Jazmine regained her composure she spoke again. "So the only reason you don't want to play is because you're afraid to lose your hair?"

"I don't want to play that girl again"

"Didn't you have fun playing against her last time?" she asked.

"I broke my both my arms and she broke her leg" Huey said bluntly.

"Oh. Well maybe it'll be different if you play a different game with her"

"It won't matter. She takes this stuff way too seriously"

"This _stuff_ is my life Huey Freeman".

Huey and Jazmine looked up to see Ming standing right in front of them. They didn't hear her approach. It was like she just appeared out of nowhere.

"What do you want Ming?" Huey asked.

"I want my rematch" she said.

"Well you won't find it here"

"Hi there" Jasmine said cheerfully to Ming. "I'm Jazmine. I'm a friend of-"

"The words of the weak and unmotivated mean nothing to me" Ming said, her eyes directly on Huey. "This is between two rivals both with power and purpose, not silly little girls. So be silent"

Jazmine closed her mouth timidly and didn't say another word.

"Look I'm not going to play you again, so will you stop bothering me" Huey said.

"Oh but you will Huey Freeman. Fate has already decided it"

"The only power fate has over us is the limits of our own will. We are none us of subjugated to the whims-"

"Your grandfather already decided for you to play"

"….What?"

Ming held up a sheet of paper that resembled a business contract. Huey stood up and took from her, reading through it quickly. At the bottom he could plainly see Granddads signature giving permission as Huey's legal guardian for him to play. Huey lowered the contract and looked back at Ming.

"We play again in five days at the basketball court. And it will be there that you lose your pride just as I lost mine". With that Ming turned on her heel and walked down the street, leaving Huey alone with Jazmine, who now had her arms crossed and held an angry look on her face.

"I don't like her" she muttered.

* * *

Huey walked into the house, the contact still in his hand. He found Granddad sitting at the small table in the kitchen reading the newspaper.

"You agreed for me to play in that game?" Huey said in anger.

"Of course I agreed" he replied eagerly. "You think I'm gonna pass up a chance at fifty grand? Besides you can win easy. And so what if you lose, your hair will grow back"

"Granddad, did you even read the contract Mr Long Dou gave you?"

"Of course I read it. I read straight through all the keywords that stood out on the first page and were directly related to what I wanted. That's always where the important details would be"

"Well I read the whole thing and it states that not only did you agree for me to do this, but you also signed over our house as collateral. If we lose game then we lose the house!"

"Oh" Granddad said in surprise. "Well…uh…do your best out there Huey"

"I'll have to organise a team" he said.

"Well I sure aint playing. I'm so old I can barely stand up anymore. And I sure as hell can't dodge nobody's balls"

Upstairs there was a very faint sound of someone saying 'Pause!'.

* * *

Later that day, Huey had gathered everyone he could think of to the park, ready to assemble them into his team. The line up in front of him included Riley, Tom, Thugnificent, Ed and Cindy. Granddad and Michael were sitting over on a nearby bench, watching the proceedings.

"Okay so I've called you all here because I'm desperate and you're the best this town has to offer so in five we play against the Chinese in a game of dodge ball that will decide the fate of my family's home and my hair style. So were gonna have to work together on this. Tom"

At the mention of his name, Tom walked forward to stand in front the group with a smile.

"Okay gang let's get started. Now if anyone is curious about the rules, well it's just like what they do in the National Dodgeball League"

Everyone began to mutter in confusion at Tom's statement. He looked back at them worriedly.

"You know the NDL? The ones that play in Las Vegas every year?"

The rest of the team still looked like they were in the dark.

"Uh… anybody see the movie about dodgeball?"

This time, everyone smiled and gave acknowledgements of understanding.

Tom was about to speak again when a car pulled up on the road and out of it came Mr Wuncler. He walked up to the team, with a group of men carrying two large crates behind him.

"Ah good to see you getting ready for the big game" he said to Huey approvingly. "We need to be in top shape if we want to school them Chinese bastards again. Anyway I brought your uniforms for you"

"Uniforms?" Huey said looking over at the two crates as they were placed down on the ground. The men who were carrying them were now opening them up and started to lift out some green coloured clothing that had the words 'Team Freeman' written on the back in gold.

"That's right" said Wuncler, as everyone else, even Granddad and Michael, came up and began to admire their new clothing. "See I'm sponsoring your team for this rematch. I have a lot riding on it"

"We have our house riding on this game" Huey said.

"Oh I know. That was me actually"

"What?" Granddad said in confusion.

"I heard that Long Dou was back in town and I knew he would be looking for some payback after that little kickball fiasco. And I also knew that Robert would agree to anything that involved the chance to win cash money and that Huey would play to save his family's home. So, I had Ed and Rummy steal Long Dou's contract and swipe it with my alternative one. The terms were the same except that if you lost then you'd be homeless"

"Why would you do that?" Huey asked.

"I also have a wager going with Dou. If you win, he'll give me two exotic baby pandas. I already have a special habitat prepared for them, so that they can grow in comfort and safety for years to come. My analysts predict that pandas will be extinct in about five years. And by then I can sell the fur, pelt and meat at an exceptionally high price. It's all about making a wise investment"

Everyone who was paying any attention, just stared dumbfounded at Wunclers explanation. Michael was the least taken back by it and was the first to speak.

"Wow that's really, really, greedy and self-serving"

"What's your point?" Wuncler asked.

"What did you bet against those pandas?" Huey asked.

"Both of my grandson's kidneys, which would fetch a pretty high price in China". He gestured over to Ed who was trying in vain to fit into one of the smaller jerseys.

Huey had any number of things that he could say to Wuncler at this point, but he didn't bother instead focusing on the task at hand. Once everyone was in uniform, Tom and Huey decided to give one person a turn on the court, while the others would try to hit them with some balls.

Riley was the first person up. He took position a few yards in front of the team and waited for them to begin. He started to bounce on his heels, dodging each ball with surprising agility.

"Oh yeah can't touch this?" he taunted.

"Hey Reezy say what" called Cindy.

"What?" he said in confusion. As soon as he stopped moving, he got hit hard in the face while Cindy laughed her head off.

* * *

The next up was Thugnificent who stood in the middle of the court.

"So let me get this straight. All I got to do is dodge yo-". He got cut off as a ball hit him in the face.

"Ow! Yo man I wasn't ready. I was asking do all I have to do is dogd-". Another ball hit him. This time in his right leg.

"Ow! Will you stop that? I'm trying to ask a simple question here. Do all I have to do is-". His head once again.

"Ow! Look man hold up a sec. I want just want to ask if-aaagh" He clutched his groin and fell to ground in Fidel position.

* * *

Next came Cindy who moved as well as Riley. However unlike him, she didn't get distracted by his insults. Then came Tom, who looked nervous as he everyone began throwing balls. He faired only marginally well, dodging maybe two balls and taking a lot of bruising to the face.

Finally there was Ed who readied himself, like he was about to enter into combat. He signalled for them to begin and as soon as they did he was pummelled by a volley of balls, unable to avoid any of them. As he kept taking more and more hits, he lost his cool and pulled out two machine guns from behind his back, pointing them at the team.

"You ass eating motherfuckers!". He let loose a hail of gunfire in all direction, as everyone ducked for cover. Eventually he ran out of bullets and seemed to calm down. The others stood back and stared at him hesitantly.

"The fuck y'all looking at?"

* * *

After another few hours the sun began to set and everyone started to pack up. Soon the only ones left were the Freemans. As Granddad and Riley went to wait in the car, Huey took a seat on the bench next Michael, who had been watching them practice all evening.

"Well? What you do think?" Huey asked.

"I think I'm gonna have to get you a wig" he replied.

Huey sighed heavily and looked up at the orange sky. "You know I could use your help out there"

"Sorry man but I don't play sports"

"If we lose this game, we lose the house. Then what?"

"Then I can finally burn it down". Michael cast a glance at Huey who looked un-amused by his statement.

"Uh look I am sorry okay" he said. "I really am, but I just can't do it. It doesn't agree with me"

"It would just be one game" Huey said.

"The thing is I want us to win, but then you got to think about Ming in that. You beat her once and it humiliated her. How is she supposed to get any closure? If you beat her again it might just push her over the edge. How is that fair? You ruin her life even more? I want no part in that?"

"It's either her or us. You said it yourself. Sometimes people have to do what they have to do and then they collide with each other. I have no choice"

"Well I do. And I am not playing"

Huey closed his eyes in acceptance, realizing that Michael wasn't going to budge. "Okay then"


	14. Chapter 14

Long. Very long. The answer is that I didn't want to split this chapter. Anyway, thanks to those that reviewed. I do like the praise, but if you could give some feedback on want you like and don't like that'd be good too.

* * *

Boondocks Chapter 14

After five days had passed and the Huey's team had made virtually zero improvement in their performance aside from successful knocking out some guy on a bike.

On Saturday evening Granddad drove the boys down to the basketball court which had been slightly renovated to for the dodge ball game. The hoops had been removed and two large folded walls were pulled out at the both ends of the court. A big crowd had gathered for the event and they were filling up the rows of seats.

Huey and his group walked to their side of the court, to see that Tom and the others were already there. Huey also saw that Sarah and Jazmine had come, probably to give moral support to Tom. Sarah was even setting out some water for everyone to drink. After changing into his uniform Huey walked out to examine the court, where he was greeted by Jazmine

"Hey Huey!" she said. "So you think you're gonna win?"

"Won't know till we try" he replied.

"I know you'll win" she said with confidence.

"I know he'll fail" said an all too familiar voice.

Huey turned his head to side to see Ming standing there wearing her own uniform. She stepped forward and gave him a cocky grin.

"I hope you have made peace with your hair and have apologized to it for incompetence"

"How can I apologize to my own hair?" Huey asked critically.

"Just you wait you!" Jazmine said, pointing her finger. "Huey's gonna win and you'll….uh be the one with stupid hair!"

Ming shot Jazmine an angry stare and then back to Huey. "I'd wish you luck, but luck is only for the weak".

Just as she was about to go join her teammates Huey spoke. "I guess I don't need to wish you it either"

Ming turned back to him and opened her mouth as if she wanted to speak, but she quickly closed it again and walked on. Huey watched her go join her team mates. Some of them he recognised from the kickball game. Among was a bald kid about their age, a taller looking girl and that giant kid that Mr Long Dou claimed was under twelve years old. The rest of the players were a pair of teenaged looking twins. After going over the competition Huey left to go find his own team, leaving Jazmine standing by herself. But not for long. Cindy soon joined her with a serious look on her face.

"Ohh girl you that?" Cindy said to Jazmine.

"See what?"

"Oh you tell you don't see that? Oh man. She all over him girl"

"She…is?" Jazmine repeated uncertainly.

"Course fool, see don't take her eyes off him. Nuh uh. She into him good"

"No she's not!"

"Yeah and that's what Huey wants you to think" Cindy said grimly.

"He does!?" Jazmine said, fear clearly in her voice.

"Mm mmh". Cindy crossed her arms and nodded with a slight pout.

* * *

Just a few minutes before the match was about to begin, Mr Wuncler walked over to inspect the team.

"Well I hope you are ready" he said with a pleasant smile. "Otherwise I'll have to waste some money on aesthetics and a tub of ice

"We're ready as can be" Huey said.

"Hey where's Ruckus?" Granddad asked Wuncler. "I thought you were gonna have him be the referee again?"

"I was but it he seems to have vanished off the face of the earth"

* * *

"Get you're damn hands off of you stinkin yellow niggas!" cried Ruckus as two Chinese men in suits were stuffing him into the trunk of a car.

"How'd you even get into this country? It was that Baboon Obama wasn't it. I knew he'd sell us out. It's an African/Asian Alliance against the white! Lord save us all!"

The two men drove the car out onto a train track and left it, Ruckus still howling his insults even after they had gone. He was continued to scream loudly, even when the sound of a train whistle could be heard in the distance.

* * *

"Any who" said Wuncler. "I got another referee. A former dodge ball pro. Unfortunately he's full integrity. So I'm afraid it will be a fair and unbiased game".

Everyone was now walking out onto court, except for Huey who was talking with Michael.

"What are you gonna do?" Huey asked.

"I think I'll just read for a bit" Michael said, taking a seat on the bench.

"I really could have used your help today" Huey said, with some regret.

"Well how bout this". Michael pulled out camera from his back and took a picture of Huey. He pulled the picture out and handed it to him.

"There. Now if you lose, you'll always remembered what you looked like with your afro"

Huey looked down at the picture with a slight frown. "Thanks"

"W_elcome folks to this special event here today. We got an exciting show in store for us. A three round dodge ball game. Playing for Woodcrest and sponsored by Ed Wuncler is Team Freeman, led by former domestic terrorist Huey Freeman! And for the oppositions, we have Team Dragon, led by the former kickball prodigy Ming Long Dou"_

Team Freeman and Team Dragon both stood at back wall of their respected ends, with the six red balls lined up in the middle line of the court. The twelve players were all tense, getting ready to break into a run as soon as the ref blew his whistle. Huey was in the rightmost middle of his team's line and was directly opposite Ming, who never took her eyes of him. They waited for what seemed like hours, until finally the ref blew the whistle.

Everyone moved as fast as they could and ran straight for the balls in the middle of the court. Huey was a head of everyone else, racing toward the ball in front of him as Ming closed in. They moved closer and closer, until their arms were just an inch away from the ball. Huey managed to place his hand on the ball first, due to the fact that his arm was slightly longer than Ming. The second that he touched it, he pulled himself and the ball away from Ming, and backed down the court.

Unfortunately not everyone on Team Freeman was as quick. The only other person who was able to get to a ball before the rest of the Chinese players was Cindy.

"_It looks like a bad start for Team Freeman, with Team Dragon gaining an immediate advantage in ammunition"._

Everyone on the court was moving in nearly every direction possible, trying to avoid any hits. Huey dodged two balls that were thrown at him and then took a shot at the giant player. Huey struck him right in the face, knocking him flat onto the court. However once that ball landed on the ground, Ming rolled over to catch it and then threw it straight at Ed, knocking him right _off_ the court.

"_Ooh and both teams suffered their first casualty. Already things are heating up fast"_

"Eat a Chinese dick!" yelled Thugnificent, firing a ball at one of the twin players. The ball missed as the player did a back flip in the air and landed on the shoulders of his brother. His brother then tossed another ball up to him and then grabbed him by the ankles. With what seemed like super human strength, the lower twin spun his brother around in a circle by his ankles. He swung him around faster and faster. Then suddenly, the first twin released the ball he was holding, sending it flying at Thugnificent. The ball punched him in face, actually knocking some of his teeth onto the floor.

"_Oh my! The former rapper Thugnificent has just being taken out by the titan twins. Two former Olympic gymnastics, who were born as Siamese twins connected by their asses. Although they recently have been surgically separated they are still in perfect sync and are knocking the shit out of has been rappers"_

The match was now five on four, with only Huey, Cindy, Riley and Tom remaining. Cindy took an opening and threw the ball she had picked up at the beginning at Ming, however it was caught by the tall girl. Cindy quickly ran off the court as the tall girl retaliated with the ball she just caught.

Tom grabbed the ball as it rolled on the floor and threw it as hard as he could. It dropped down to the ground just short of the middle line. The Chinese players stared down at it and then back up to Tom, who began to shake at his knees. They quickly dispatched him next.

"_And there goes Tom DuBois! Now it's just the Freeman brother!"_

Riley didn't have any ball to throw, but was using his basketball skills to dodge all his attackers, which made sure to serve his ego. Eventually he was able to catch a ball thrown by bald kid, eliminating him and bringing back one of their players. The player in waiting was Thugninficent. He ran up to Riley and gave him a quick pat on the back.

"Way to go young Reezy! That's showing em"

"Oh yeah. This heres my court and don't matter what the game, nobody can out school me"

Riley bounced the ball he was holding off the ground and began to dribble it between his legs like a basketball. He stood in the middle of the court, showing off with the ball, while Thugnificent gave encouragement.

"Yeah now that's how you handle a ball. Aint ever see any nigga handle a ball like that. You gonna be the next big thing little man. The next ShaquilleO Neal, the next Kobe Bryant, the next-". Bam! Another ball hit Thugnificent right in his face. Only then did Riley cease his performance to look down at him with an innocent look. As he turned back up a second ball came flying right at him, hitting him in the stomach.

"_And there goes both Riley Freeman and Thugnificent! Now it's just Huey Freeman left"_

Huey was now on the ropes with all the remaining players focusing their efforts on him. He jumped into the air to avoid another hit. Just as another ball came at him, he caught it while he was in the air.

"_And another catch by Team Freeman, which means they get another player back in. And this time it's…"_

"Yo man Thugnificnet back on the scene and this time I am-". At least three balls struck Thugnificent as soon as he stepped back onto the court.

"_And now it's Huey Freeman again!"_

Huey stood alone on the court facing Ming and her three teammates, who were all armed with one ball each.

"Come on Huey! You can do it!" cried Jasmine.

Huey cringed as he took the brunt of all four balls and dropped to the ground. Once they stopped, the ref blew his whistle once again to signal the end of the match.

"Boo! You suck Huey" called Riley.

"_And that's it for Team Freeman with Team Dragon taking the first round. Seems like Team Freeman will need to step its game up a notch if they want to make out of this"_

* * *

There would be a fifteen intermission for both teams before the next match. This would give Huey and the others time to think of a game plan. So far their discussions consisted mostly of the injured players sitting on a bench in agony.

"Man you all suck out there" said Granddad to the players. "Especially you Riley. This aint basketball. Its dodge ball for Christ sake!" He turned his head to Huey. "So what now?"

"They hit too hard and fast. We can't keep up. Our best chance is if the others keep their heads down and keep feeding every ball they get"

"Alright let's show these niggas who runs this country" grunted Riley, struggling to get off the bench.

As everyone was slowly getting ready for the next round, Granddad spotted Michael sitting down along the bench reading a book.

"What the hell you think you're doing boy?" Granddad scowled, taking a seat beside him.

"Reading" he replied.

"How can read a time like this? We could lose our house and I sure as hell aint going down to any of them homeless shelters. The food there sucks. Plus I don't want them bums asking me for money"

"Well I'm sure you thought of that when you agreed to game"

"Okay look what's done is done, and right now we got to work together to get through. So don't you try and help out?"

"I don't want to play. I hate sports"

"How can you hate sports? Think of it. The roar of the crowd. The adrenaline pumping through your body"

"Look old man" Michael said. "I do not want to play. I don't like sports and there is nothing you say that will change my mind"

"And not to mention the ladies"

Michael slowly lifted his head and raised an eyebrow at Granddad.

"Come again?"

"The ladies" Granddad repeated with a smile. "Shoot. I remember when I won my first basketball game, they were all over me. I had to beat them away with a stick. Except one of them started pressing charges for assault and I had to get out of there, but I still got her number. Heheh. The girls always like a winner"

Granddad back down at Michael who had a vague expression on his face as if he was mauling over what he was just heard. However he soon narrowed his eyes back at Granddad.

"Don't think you can persuade me by telling something that's probably going to work. I'm still not playing". He put his head back into his book and didn't say another word. Granddad stared down at him and grinned, an idea forming in his head.

* * *

The second round was about to begin, the players lined up in position once again. And once again Huey and Ming only had eyes on each other. The held their stare until the ref finally blew the whistle.

Huey and his team charged forward at a much greater pace this time, intent on getting to the balls first. However when they were halfway to the middle line, Tom slipped on his heel and fell forward. He stretched out his arm to grab Ed by his collar, causing him to fall as well. However it didn't stop there, with Riley and Cindy tripping over Tom once he had fallen. They were soon followed by Thugnificnet who jumped into the air to avoid them, but lost his balance as he landed and fell on top of Huey. Soon all six players on Team Freeman were lying flat on the court in one big tangled pile of limbs. Huey pushed Thugnificent's torso up just enough to see Ming and her team, standing ready with all six dodge balls.

Granddad put his hand over his eyes, unable to watch the brutal massacre taking place. He then turned his attention over to Sarah who was stilling busy with her refreshments.

"Hey Sarah" said Granddad as he approached her.

"Yeah Robert" she replied.

"I was wondering" he said hesitantly. "If maybe you could have a word with Michael. See he really wants to play, but oh the poor boy's just too damn shy. I thought maybe you could give him a little confidence boost."

"Oh dear" she said sadly. "The poor thing. Don't worry I'll talk with him." She walked over to Michael as he sat on the bench, and didn't see the broad smile appearing on Granddad's face.

"Hey Michael" said Sarah sitting down beside him.

"Hello Sarah" he replied happily, throwing his book behind his back.

"Now Robert tells me you don't want to play. Is that true?"

"Well…yeah. I guess…that I must not feel confident enough to play" he said, looking down to ground with a sad face.

"Why? Are you worried you won't be any good" she asked warmly.

"A little. What if nobody thinks I'm any good?" he said innocently.

"Ah don't be worried about that" she said, pulling him closer and rubbing his head. "I'm sure you'd be really great if you just try. And I promise I'll cheer you on no matter what".

"Really?"

"Really"

She smiled down at him and the pulled him into a hug. Michael responded in kind and was able to hide his grin inside of her chest.

* * *

Back the court things were looking bad. The only players left were Tom and Riley while Team Dragon still had five players including Ming. Huey was waiting to return as soon as Riley or Tom caught a ball, but all they were doing was trying to avoid any hits. Granddad walked up behind him and whispered something into his ear.

Once he heard that, Huey ran over to the referee and asked for a time out. The referee quickly allowed it, but only for five minutes. Tom and Riley huddled back over with the others to hear what they had planned.

"Tom I need to substitute you" Huey said.

"Substitute me?" he repeated, surprised. "With who?"

"With him" said Granddad, gesturing to Michael who was now wearing the team jersey.

"Okay after some insightful experiences" he said, wiping some blood from his nose with a tissue. "I have decided to play. But it's just this once. And I'm only going to put the least amount of effort possible. None of hundred and ten per cent bullshit"

"Fair enough. Just catch the ball" Huey instructed.

"But wait a second" Tom protested. "Players can only substituted before a match or if injured and I'm not-"

Cindy raised her foot and kicked Tom in the side of his ankle, causing to him fall to the ground screaming in pain. Everyone else soon ignored him, as Riley and Michael walked back onto the court.

"Just sit back and let Riley Freeman show you how it's done" Riley said.

"You know what? Work away" Michael said, waving hand for Riley to go first.

Together they both returned to the court as the rest of the team yelled encouragement.

"Go get them Michael" said Granddad with a smile. He kept smiling for a long moment until he frowned as if he just thought of something. He looked down to Huey.

"Wait a second. He's uh really really really good right?" Huey didn't answer and kept his eyes on the court.

"Right?" he asked again, with a little higher pitch. This time Huey looked back up to Granddad and merely gave him a shrug.

"_And we're back after a short time out. And Team Freeman has just substituted Tom Dubois due to him suffering an injuring, which involved him getting his ass handed to him a little white girl. Now its Riley Freeman and the new comer Michael Ringer against Team Dragon"_

Michael and Riley stood on their side of the court, facing off against the five Chinese players. Despite agreeing to play, Michael looked incredibly bored. He hand his hands inside his pockets and didn't appear to have much enthusiasm compared to Riley who was jogging on the spot.

"Oh yeah come on come on!" he taunted at the opposing team. "You think you can hit me huh? You think you can hit me, but oh you can't hit me. I ought to stay still to give you suckers a chance".

The referee blew his whistle to resume to the match. No sooner than he did, there was a powerful whoosh in the air and loud thud echoed in the stadium as a dodge ball struck Riley across the face, slamming him on to the ground. Ming pulled her arm back with satisfying grin.

"_And Riley Freeman is down for the count folks. Guess he should have spent some more time on his dodge ball skills than he did on his smack talk"_

"Bitch" Riley murmured softy as he rubbed his nose and walked off the court.

"_And now it's all comes down to Team Freeman's finally player, the young Michael Ringer, though from up here its looks like this game has already been decided, as little Michael is making no effort to try to duck and cover or even pick up a ball"_

The announcer was indeed correct. Michael let out a stiff yawn as he remained stationary in the middle of floor. Ming and her team relaxed, thinking there was no more threat. The bald kid handed Ming another ball, letting her do the finally honours. She looked directly at Michael, who didn't look the least bit afraid or even interested and wasn't making any attempt to move.

She gave the ball a solid throw with her right arm, launching straight at Michael. Huey and the rest of the team watch with anxiety as the ball moved through the air and was about to land the winning hit on Michael. However in split seconds before the ball hit, Michael pushed himself up on his feet and spun himself in a circle at a blinding speed, moving to his immediate right. The crowd gasped as the ball passed harmlessly right beside him.

"_Unbelievable folks! What an amazing dodge by Michael Ringer. It doesn't even look like he moved at all. He's standing exactly the same way he was earlier, but now he's just an inch to the right. It's as if the entire court had just moved one inch to the left, leaving Michael standing where he was!"_

Ming widened her eyes at Michael's move. She hadn't been expecting him to try and evade her attack. He still appeared like someone who really didn't care about playing. However when he noticed Ming's surprise, he gave her a small smile and winked her direction. Ming's eyes narrowed dangerously.

The giant kid grabbed another ball from the floor and threw it across the court at Michael, going for his head. However Michael rolled his hips to the side and arched himself backwards. He straightened himself back up after the ball went right over him. The crowd now began to roar in excitement.

The bald Chinese kid picked the ball when it rolled over their side of the court and threw it. This time Michael jumped backwards and did a sideways flip in mid-air, avoiding the ball completely. He landed back on the ground gracefully his hands still in his pockets and let out another stiff yawn.

"_Wow! This is amazing! Little Michael is untouchable. No one on Team Dragon can so much as rattle him. But wait, what's this? It looks like the titan twins are trying to double team him!"_

Both of the twins took a ball and moved to opposite corners of their court. They both fired their balls at the same time, trying to get Michael in a crossfire. One of them aimed low from the left, while the other aimed high from the right. Michael used this to his advantage. He ran forward, his arms unmoving, and jumped into the air right in front of the oncoming ball from the left. He placed one foot on top the ball and pushed off it, onto the right one. Seeing what he was doing, Ming grabbed another ball and jumped at least ten feet into the air and threw it at Michael while he was still in the air. Just as he pushed off the second ball, he rolled over in the air, once again avoiding the hit. He landed with both feet on the ground and literary hadn't even broken a sweat yet.

"_Did you see that folks? He actually stepped off each of the balls like a staircase in the sky. And since technically he wasn't actually hit by those balls the referee is allowing it! This is absolutely incredible! It looks like Team Freeman has literally brought in a Ringer!"_

Team Freeman was watching all of this with their mouths wide open. However they soon got over their surprise and began to cheer Michael on.

"Woohoo! Yeah go Michael!" Jazmine cheered. Huey was the only one not cheering.

"Michael!" he called. "Take your hands out of your pockets and catch a ball!"

Michael dragged his eyes over to Huey, dodging yet another volley of balls. He let out a tired sigh, took his hands out of his pocket and stretched his arms above his head. Ming signalled the rest of her team hold their position for a minute to see what he would do. Michael lifted his hands up his chest and while looking directly at Ming, he gestured at her ball with a nod of his head and flicked his fingers forward, as if he wanted her to pass it to him.

Ming snarled, gripping her ball tightly. With an incredible amount of force she threw straight through the air so fast it actually began to catch fire. It hit Michael with a loud bang, sent skidding right across the court. He stopped just short of the back line of the court, his torso bent forward, with smoke emanating from underneath his chest. He picked himself upright, revealing the ball, caught perfectly in both hands. A small flame was burning on the surface of the ball. Michael casually blew it out with a quick breath.

"_Oh and it looks like Ming is out and Huey Freeman is back in!"_

Right on cue, Huey ran back onto the court, as Michael tossed him the ball. In the second that he grabbed it, he threw straight at the bald player, knocking him down. The crowd roared once again.

"_Ooh and spectacular hit by Huey Freeman! And now it's three against two!"_

Huey and Michael took up positions at opposite ends of the court, with the Chinese players following suit. The twins stood on the right side opposite Huey, while the giant kid was opposite Michael. One of the twins threw balls at Huey who dodge to the left. The second twin quickly threw another ball, forcing Huey further to the left. Unfortunately, now he was right in the line of fire from the giant player, who had already thrown his ball as Huey moved into position. It was about to hit when Michael jumped in front of Huey and caught the ball with one hand. He landed to the right side of Huey and once again tossed him the ball. Huey then threw it the ball at one of the twins. It hit him right in the face and instantly bounced off to the side and hit his brother in the side of the head. The two twins fell to ground, almost in unison.

"_And it's a double takedown by Huey Freeman, who has just scored the second round for Team Freeman"_

As the crowd cheered even louder, Michael stood right beside Huey with a small grin. Without even a sideways glance, the two of them gave each other a quick fist bump.

"Still hate sports?" Huey asked, over the noise.

"Eh" Michael replied, shrugging his shoulders. "It was okay"

On the left side of the court, Team Freeman was cheering like crazy, having won their first round.

"Oh yeah!" shouted Riley. "That's my brother! And the one with the afros cool too"

* * *

"Fifty grand, fifty grand, fight graaannnd!" Granddad sang happily. He and everyone else were waiting on the side lines in intermission before the final round. Everyone was celebrating their success or rather they were congratulating Michael on his performance. The only one who wasn't happy was Tom. It seemed as though he was still a little sore at being replaced.

"You were the bomb little man" said Thugnificent.

"Give it up for the Fire Starter!" added Cindy.

"Yeah baby we sure showed them fools didn't we?" said Riley, elbowing Michael in his arms

"See I told you'd be okay didn't I" said Sarah bending down beside Michael, planting a kiss on his check. He smiled happily, while Tom stood slack jawed behind them.

Over on the side of the court things were going quite different. The five players were sitting all sitting on the bench, their heads hung down in shame. Ming was standing away from the others, her grandfather berating her in Mandarin.

"You're slipping. This is your last chance to make something of yourself. Either you win here today or you lose everything. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir" she said.

"And one more thing" he said. "Don't just beat him. Break him. You know what to do"

Ming gave him a curt nod, her face hardening. Her grandfather left her alone for a minute as he went back to the other players.

"You really gonna let him talk to you like that?"

Ming gripped her hands tightly and stared angrily at Huey as he approached her.

"I don't need advice from you" she replied in English. "I don't need anything from you. All I is for you to lose."

"You want to me to take a dive?" he asked.

"No! That would be even worse than defeat. I'll beat you with my own skill. And then I can finally move on from this"

"Move on?"

"Yes. Ever since that day, that day I lost everything, all I could think about was you. You and that stupid…big…massive,,,giant.. afro! Once I win I can forget about all of this. And I can forget about you"

"The only one keeping you here is yourself" Huey said. "We can call this is off right now, shake hands and we can all walk out of here with some dignity"

"I can't do that" she growled, moving up closer to him. "I have to win. This is all I have. It's everything to me. You wouldn't understand"

"No I don't understand. This is only a game" Huey said softly. "There's more to life than winning and succeeding. It's about learning from you failure, moving past them and growing into something else. It doesn't matter if you lose here today. You're still the most talented kickball player I have ever met. No one can take that away from you. Not even me"

For a minute Ming's face demeanour soften and she closed her eyes tightly. "It's not just about that"

"Then what is it?" he asked. Ming slowly opened her eyes and stared at him dead in the face, her eyes beginning to shine brightly.

"Huey…I…" she whispered. For a moment she seemed to be a loss for words. When it looked like she was about to speak again, she suddenly raised her eyebrows in surprise. Huey turned around to see Jamzine walking up to them. Ming's earlier seriousness return as she turned away from Huey with a frown and walked back to join her grandfather without another word. Huey watched her go as Jazmine stood right beside him.

"What are you doing?" Jazmine asked, with a small hint of suspicion in her voice.

"Nothing" said Huey.

"What do you mean nothing? You talking with _her_" she said.

"Well yeah. We were just talking" he said.

"Really? You were just talking? To_ her_ of all people?" she said putting her hands on her hips. Now she sounded a little angry.

"Yeah" Huey said slowly, not getting why she would be angry.

"Yeah? That's all you can say? What the heck is yeah supposed to mean huh?"

"Yeah means yeah" he said, now getting a little annoyed himself.

"So what exactly were you and her talking about huh? I guess you like talking to _her _instead of your friends after you've won a game right?"

"No. That's not really..…What does that have to do with?…" he stuttered at a loss for words.

"Oh so now you can't talk to me. Maybe you should see if _she_ wants to talk some more!" Jazmine turned and stormed off in anger, leaving Huey alone.

"We were just talking!" he called at her again, with a surprising amount of indignity in his voice. He sighed in both frustration and confusion at what just happened. He walked back to join he's team, where Michael and Granddad were the first to greet him

"Oh boy are you trouble" Michael said, having seen the whole event.

"I didn't do nothing" Huey replied.

"Don't matter. See when a guy does something wrong then a woman will be angry with him. When a guy does something right then a woman will be angry with you. And when a guy does absolutely nothing at all, then a woman will absolutely be angry with him"

"Mm mmh. Yeah that's true" Granddad said, closing eyes and nodding solemnly.

Huey rolled his eyes at the both of them. He walked right past them, only to be met with Cindy who looked at him with contempt.

"So you be having a little rice patty on the side now huh? I told Jeezy you were a player" Huey said nothing as she walked past him and he was now beginning to wonder just much of this crap he could take.

* * *

For the third and final time, both teams were lined on the court, waiting to begin. As usual, Ming and Huey were locked in each other's gaze.

There was a gust of wind from both ends of the court and a puff of smoke in the air. Both Huey and Ming had disappeared from their respected sides and were down on one knee right in the middle of the court, before anyone else could even move. They had moved at an unbelievable speed and both had place one hand on the ball in front of them at the exact same time. They looked down at the ball and then back up to each other. For a spilt they did nothing, until Huey released the ball first. As soon as he did Ming, stood back up and threw right at his face. He ducked his head down in an instant and jumped back into the court. The rest of Team Freeman joined him and ran to retrieve a ball, except for Michael who was walking slowly onto the court.

The match had gone much the same as the last two, with both sides now only having three players, Huey, Riley Michael along with Ming, the bald player and the giant kid. Huey was squaring off against Ming, while Riley was successfully dodging some hits. Michael looked as though he was thinking of some else and didn't appear to be paying attention, yet he could still somehow dodge each ball thrown at him. After another minute, he seemed to come back to reality and walked over to Riley.

"I got an idea" he whispered to him, as he slowly nodded his head in understanding. Riley then ran out closer to the middle line of the court, his eyes on the bald player.

"Yo Monk boy! Yeah that's right I'm talking to you! What's wrong? Is baldness hereditary for yo family or is yo style so messed it aint even legal in this country?"

Riley kept taunting the bald player until he finally snapped and chucked a ball at him. This is what Riley was expecting and ducked down as the ball came at him. Michael stood right behind him and caught the ball effortlessly. He then lightly tossed over to Huey, who threw right the giant player, hitting him across the face.

"_What an amazing display of team work! The Freeman boys have just taken two of Team Dragons best players!"_

"Oh yeah!" Riley cried as the crowd cheered them on. "That's how we roll. Aint nobody can stop us. We's the three musketeers and we got-". For what was probably the umpteenth time, Ming hit Riley in the face with a dodge ball. He jerked straight back, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he fell to the ground.

"_And Riley's out. Now it's Huey and Michael against Ming!"_

Huey threw a ball at Ming who just barely managed to dodge it. She picked up another ball on her side of the court and this time threw it at Michael as hard as she could. Michael simply bent downwards as the ball went over him and then back up. However, the ball kept moving in a straight line until it hit the back walls that had been set on the court. The ball bounced off the wall and went back in the opposite direction, hitting Michael right in the back. He stumbled forward, caught by surprise. It was then the ref blew the whistle him, pointing down to the floor. Huey looked down to see that the ball had pushed Michael over the middle line of the court, which counted as a disqualification.

"_Oh and Michael is out. Since that hit rebounded off the wall, it doesn't count as a hit, but he still steeped over the line, meaning that this match just became one on one"_

"Come on Huey! You can win" cheered Jamzine.

"Yeah Huey" called Granddad. "Think about our house which I put in jeopardy!"

Grabbing a ball throw over to her by her team mates, Ming took another shot at Huey. At first he thought he was safe when the ball missed me by a wide margin, but then he realised what Ming was really doing. The ball bounced off the back wall, as it had done earlier and ricocheted right at Huey, hitting him in his shoulder.

"_Oh and a dirty tactic by Ming but not technically against the rules!"_

She threw another ball at the back of the court and once again it rebound at Huey, hitting him in the back. He fell to his knees in pain, trying to stand back up. Without letting up Ming threw yet another ball at the wall, this one actually rebound off it twice like a pin ball, before hitting right in the side of his knee.

Huey fell to ground, clutching his leg. He tried to stand up, but the pain was too much. He looked up to Ming holding another ball at the ready.

"Huey come on! Get up" cried Jazmine.

"Huey please don't lose!" begged Granddad.

"Boo! You pathetic Huey. Boo! I'm gonna have to disown you!" Michael smacked Riley in head shutting him up for a moment.

"Huey! You _have _to get up. So get up _now_!"

"_This could be it for Huey Freeman, all he can do is lay there while Ming is getting ready to finish this"_

Ming raised her ball up and slowly took aim Huey. For minute she stood perfectly still, as if she was waiting for the right moment

"Ming!" called her grandfather. "Do it now!"

"Huey I know you can do it!" cried Jazmine, holding her hands together. The rest of the team began to yell encouragement at Huey as he struggled to get back up, while Ming herself seemed to be at odds with herself. She now closed her eyes as if she was trying to concentrate on something else.

"Huey. I swear if you lose I will beat yo ass till my belt or yo ass breaks, whichever one comes first" yelled Granddad with desperation and anger.

"Huey get up!" said Michael.

"Please don't give up"

"Ming this is your last chance. Prove you're not worthless!"

"Get up now!"

"Huey! You suck ass out of a straw!"

"Come on Huey. I believe in you!"

And then it happened. The ball was finally thrown and struck hard. Right into Jazmine's face. The entire court now had eyes on Jamzine, who was sent flying to the ground by the force the hit. Then they all turned to Ming, whose arm was still out stretched. She herself seemed surprised by what she just did.

"_Oh my god! It looks like Ming has thrown a ball at one of Team Freeman's supporters. She blew what was the perfect chance to take out Huey freeman and now she is being reprimanded by the referee!"_

Sarah held a packet of ice on Jamzine's face, as her eye turned black. The others had picked Huey up and placed him on the bench, after the ref allowed him a moment to check if he could still play.

"What the hell was that? Granddad asked, looking from Huey to Jamzine.

"Don't ask me" Huey said. He then directed himself at Michael. "How's Jamzine"

"She'll be fine. But I think she might have just given us a break. How's that leg?"

"I think it's dislocated" Huey said painfully.

"Can we substitute again?" Michael asked.

"We can only substitute Huey with someone new" said Tom. "If he can't play anymore than we lose"

"I have a guy here who might be able help" said Mr Wucnler, joining them. Behind him was short Asian man with a small white goatee.

"Don't worry he's Japanese's" Wuncler said after the apprehensive look everyone was giving the man. He walked forward to Huey and examined his leg for a moment before speaking.

"I am going to a try an ancient medicine technique." The man slowly rubbed his hands together and hummed deeply. For a minute he stood still like a statue. Then, extremely quickly, he grabbed Huey's leg, twisted and popped it back into place with a loud crack. Everyone cringed at the noise, almost feeling the pain themselves. Huey closed his eyes and gritted his teeth for a second, before regaining his composure.

"Ow" he said, in a raspy breath. He got off the bench and shook his leg in the air for a minute, satisfied that he could still play in his condition.

Meanwhile Ming was once again being reprimanded by her grandfather.

"What the hell was that?"

"I …I don't know" she said.

"Well this time I want to break both of his legs and maybe his arms just-"

"No"

"Excuse me?"

"No" she repeated. "I'll beat him my way!"

"Okay but you lose, it's your ass not mine"

Huey and Ming walked back onto the court. They stood on either side of the black line, ready for one final bout. On the side lines, each of their team mates were about throw a ball out to one of them. They waited silently for whoever was going to throw first. Finally the ref blew his whistle again and both teams threw their ball out to their players at almost the exact same moment.

As if they were in unison, Huey and Ming caught the balls in the air at the same time and rushed forward with them, moving like they were in sync. When they were both just an inch from the black line and while still holding their balls, the two of them thrust them right each other.

They then collided with an amazing amount of force. So much that it somehow created a miniature explosion of blue fire that erupted in the court. A cloud of smoke appeared on the court, obscuring everything from sight.

The crowd fell silent as the smoke slowly cleared. Huey and Ming were both lying face first on the ground, unmoving. The was a quiet groan, as Ming lifted her head a few inches off the ground and then rested on her chin, her eyes half opened. She soon focused them on a red ball, resting right between her and Huey.

"_And Ming is the first one up!"_

Reaching out with her left hand, she dragged herself forward a few inches to ball, while Huey remained immobile. She continued to pull herself forward. And forward. And forward, everyone transfixed by her efforts. When she was just a few inches away from the ball, she stretched out her hand and placed it on the ball.

"_And she has the ball! If she can just tap Huey with it, then she'll walk from here today as a champion!"_

Huey raised his head up to see Ming with her hand one on the ball, but he didn't have the energy to move. With a quiet grunt, Ming pushed the ball across the ground with her fingertips. It rolled right over until it tapped Huey right on his forehead.

The crowd gasped simultaneously.

"_Is….is that IT?!"_

The referee blew the whistle for what was going to be the final time. Granddad and the rest of Team Freemen felt a great despair wash over them. Huey closed his eyes in recognition at his defeat.

But then, suddenly the whistle was blow a second time. Everyone's eyes were on the referee, as he walked onto the court, standing right between Ming and Huey. First he looked at Huey and then at Ming, who was looking up at him with anxiety. He pointed to the ground and shook his head. Ming didn't understand at first, until she too looked at the floor. Right underneath her left arm was the black line of the court

"_I don't believe it! Ming went over the line! She is disqualified! Team Freeman has won!"_

The crowd cheered raucously. Team Freeman soon joined in, revealing in their victory. Riley and Granddad began their celebratory booty dance. Cindy put her arm around Jazmine's shoulder and yelled right in her ear. Tom looked over at Sarah and leaned in to kiss her. However he fell forward, as she bent down bent down to pick Michael up in her arms, not even noticing her husband's misfortune.

Mr Wuncler stood beside Long Doe with a smug smile, while he in return hid a small scowl. He clicked his fingers and as if out of nowhere a group of men came with a medium size cage which contained two baby pandas.

Huey let out a sigh in relief as he lay on the floor. He wasn't really sure if could stand or not, but felt content with lying down for a while. A hand appeared in his line of vision. He looked up to see Michael, bending down with his hand out stretched. Huey clasped it with his left arm and he felt himself lift off the ground, as Michael pulled him up and slung his arm over his shoulders to help him stand.

As he leaned on Michael and together they walked off the court. Huey looked over his shoulder at Ming, who was trying to get up on her feet. He briefly shared a glance with her, but then he felt someone throw their arms around his neck and embraced him tightly. When they pulled away, Huey saw that it was Jazmine. Soon they were joined by the rest of the team, everyone giving out their share of praise to Huey.

When Huey managed to look at Ming again, she looked back him with a hollow stare, like something in her had been broken.

* * *

Granddad smiled like crazy when Mr Long Dou handed him the cheque for fifty thousand dollars. He began to kiss the piece of paper passionately, while the team was having their picture for the newspaper. Huey, Riley and Michael were standing together for one on their own, with Riley making a gangster pose and Michael with his elbow on Huey's shoulder.

Huey took his eyes away from the photographers to see Long Dou walking over to Ming, who was quietly on a bench.

"I would say I'm disappointed" he said when he reached her. "But that would I still feel some kind of attachment to you"

He walked past her and even though he gave her no indication to come with him, she stood up and began to follow him. She stopped when she noticed Huey behind. She stared at him sadly as he walked forward and extended his left hand out for her. He waited patiently for her to return the gesture, but she simply pushed his hand away.

"Goodbye" she said quietly.

"Good bye" he replied. "It was a good game"

"Yeah it was". She stayed silent for another minute and looked away from him. "You know I was really looking forward to this game"

"So you could shave my head"

"No. Because I don't think I've had as much fun playing against anyone else than I have against you"

"What will happen to you now?"

"I don't know. Don't really care"

"I told you before" he said. "You're still the best player I've ever seen"

"And told you" she replied, looking at him again. "It's not just about that"

"Then what is it?". She said nothing and turned her back on him. Huey took this an incentive to leave. As he walked away, Ming looked back at him one last time.

"Wǒ ài nǐ*, Huey Freeman*" she whispered, tears forming in her eyes. She had no idea if he heard her.

* * *

That evening, Granddad drove the boys back home in silence. When they finally returned home, Huey went up to his bedroom, followed by Michael. Huey got up in his bed and stared up at the celling. It was completely quiet in the room, until Michael heard a small sniffle sound. He looked over at Huey in surprise.

"Are you…crying?"

"No" Huey said, his voice emotionless.

Michael was about to ask him again, but then decided to leave the room thinking that Huey might want to be alone for a while.

* * *

Very long. There was actually a scene at the end that I didn't include. It would just be another foreshadow for something pretty big later. Next chapter will be a lot shorter.

*I am not really sure if that's right. I used google translate. What she is supposed to be saying is….I think it's better to use your imagination.


	15. Chapter 15

"Good day, good day, good daaayyyyy"

Granddad was in a very happy mood as he took a stroll out in the town. He had just bought his groceries and his medication without any hassle or delays and was now enjoying the beautiful day. He walked along the sidewalk until he came to a crossway. As he waited for the lights to change he noticed a young girl beside him, trying to reach the button, but was too short.

Deciding to be friendly, Granddad pressed the button for her. She turned and looked up at him with a smile for his gesture. Granddad smiled back her as he couldn't help but admire how adorably cute the girl was. She had pretty brown hair that was tied up into two small pony tails on the back of her head. She wore an adorable little pink outfit with a short skirt.

"Thank you mister" she said sweetly.

"My pleasure cutie pie" Granddad said. "Now what's a nice little girl like you doing out here all by yourself?"

"I need to cross the road to meet my mommy" she said, pointing across the busy road. "But I couldn't reach the button and I got stuck"

"Well now don't you worry little baby. Old Robert Freeman will help you across"

Granddad extended his hand to the little girl who took it without hesitation. She held on to his fingers tightly as he led her to the other side of the road. She let go once they were safely across.

"Thank you mister" she said, once again with pure sweetness. "I can wait here for my mommy now"

"Okay baby" Granddad said with a smile. "And be sure to tell your mommy that it was a handsome devil who helped you cross the road"

"I sure will!"

"Thank you baby". Granddad smiled one last time at the girl and then resumed his trek back to the car. The girl watched him walked down the street and once she saw him turn the corner, she lifted up her right hand and pulled off what appeared to be a skim tight latex glove that was completely invisible on her hand. She then pulled out a plastic ball and sealed the glove into it. At that moment a woman wearing a dark suit and a purse came up from behind the little girl. She glanced up at the woman and handed her the sealed bag. The woman examined it in the air for a moment and then tucked it inside her purse.

* * *

The next day…

"Man this game sucks" Riley complained.

"Except that it's awesome" said Michael as he sat down the floor, playing the Last of Us on the PS3.

"Yeah but all we get to do is sit here and watch you sneak around a bunch of zombies. Where the fuck is the multiplayer?"

"This game isn't about multiplayer. It's about the powerful story and characters"

"If you want to watch a story, go see a movie. But when I play the PlayStation, I want to be up in there shooting them motherfuckers down and getting the high scores. Not watching a bunch of gay ass cut scenes"

"The ending is terrible" Huey said, reading a book as always.

"It's beautiful and moving" Michael said.

"You doom of all mankind and save somebody dealing with survivor's guilt. How the hell is that beautiful?"

"Because there's so much to it. Think about it. If it was Riley wouldn't you do the same?"

"If that scenario were to happen" Huey said. "I'm pretty sure Riley would either be the first person eaten or the first person I have to kill"

"Hey if the zombies be coming then Riley Freemans gonna be ready for them and I aint gonna be sneaking around them neither. First they come through the doors, but then I take out like five in a row with just one bullet. Then I start smacking em around, knocking their heads off. Then I chain a couple of them up and use them like a guard dogs on any nigga that gets in my face."

"Boys" called Granddad as he entered the living room. He eyed the three for a minute.

"What the hell is wrong with you boys? Spending all day playing video games when you could be outside in the fresh air"

"We aint playing no video game!" Riley said in anger. "Cos this cheap ass nigga over here won't let us use the damn multiplayer!"

"Yeah well you sitting there watching him play, so that's just as bad. When I was your age we didn't any of them damn electronic video games. Instead we had our own fun rolling tires and skipping rocks and getting some much needed exercise. How do think I lived so long?"

Granddad stopped mid-way in his rant when there was a knock on the door.

"Michael! Go see who that is"

"Why do I have to?" he asked.

"Cos you the one sitting there playing that game, so you need the most exercise. Now get off you behind or I'm gonna get my belt on you!"

Michael paused the game and put the controller down. He got up and walked down the hall to the door. As soon as he was gone Riley got off the couch and grabbed the controller. He un-paused the game and resumed where Michael left off. However he was quickly dispatched by a zombie.

"Aw come on! This game is bullshit. They don't let you have unlimited ammo. You can actually run out of bullets in this game. That unrealistic! I'm gonna sue Naughty Dog for wasting my money"

"This is Michael's game Riley" Huey said.

"Time is money and then wasted my time!"

"Uh guys. We have company" Michael called from the hall. Huey turned his head to see Michael entering the living, followed by a tall woman with a briefcase and suit, along with a little girl around their age, with pig tails in her hair.

"Robert Freeman?" the woman asked, her eyes on Granddad.

"Yeah" he said, a little warily.

"I am Lucy Cartille. Attorney" she said in a formal manner. She gestured to the girl beside her. "This is my daughter and my client, Mandy Cartille. We are here to conduct business with you"

"Uh…alright" Granddad replied, as the woman took a seat in the arm chair beside the couch, while her daughter remained standing beside her. Granddad sat down in his own chair, with Michael taking a seat on the couch beside Huey and Riley remaining on the floor.

"How can I help you?" Granddad asked.

"We are here for compensation" Lucy said.

"Compensation?" Granddad repeated.

"Yes" she said.

"Uh what exactly do mean by compensation?"

"Compensation. Noun. Something, typically money given or received to someone in recognition and of loss, injury or otherwise aversive suffering."

"O-kay" said Granddad slowly.

"In this case it is monetary compensation owed to us by you"

"Me?"

"Yes"

"I owe you compensation?"

"Yes"

"So I have to pay you money?"

"Yes"

"Why?"

"Because you owe us compensation"

"I owe you compensation" Granddad said once again.

"Yes"

"So I have to pay you?"

"Yes"

"How much compensation do I have to pay exactly?"

"Anywhere between eighty thousand dollars to eighty thousand dollars"

Granddad blinked in succession as he slowly comprehended what he just heard, before screaming in outrage. "EIGTHY THOUSAND DOLLARS?!"

"Yes" she said calmly.

"You want me to pay you eighty thousand dollars?!"

"Yes"

"I aint paying you nothing!"

"Yes you are" she said, with no change in her voice.

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are"

"No I am not!

"No you are not"

"Yes I am!" Granddad paused, as soon as he realised what he had just done. "No! I mean no! I'm not paying you anything. I don't owe you no damn compensation!"

"Yes you do, but it's not for me, it's for my daughter here". She gestured to the girl called Mandy.

"Her" he said pointing at the young girl. "What do I owe her for? I helped her cross the street. If anything she owes me, but I sure aint asking for no eighty grand. Probably like fifteen, twenty dollars tops"

"This compensation is not for that" Lucy said.

"Then what is it for?"

"Abuse"

"Abuse?" Granddad said in confusion.

"You see my daughter has informed me that yesterday afternoon at approximately 2:16 p.m., you Robert Freeman…_molested_ her"

There are stunned silences and then there are moments like this. In the background someone may have been playing dramatic music. The three boys slowly turned their heads at Granddad who stared straight ahead, his eyes widening in shock. Riley was the first to speak.

"Uh Granddad!" he said in disbelief. "S'wrong with you?"

"You _sick_ bastard" Michael said darkly. He slid down the couch, inching away from Granddad.

"Do you think she was a midget or something?" Huey asked.

"Hell no!" Granddad yelled. "I didn't molest anybody!"

"Well according to my daughter, you did" Lucy said, her voice still perfectly calm and business like.

"I did not!"

"Yes you did"

"No I did not!"

"No you did not" she said calmly.

"Yes I did!" Granddad paused once again and scrunched his face in frustration. He took a deep inhale and exhale. When he spoke again it was in a slightly more calm tone.

"Look I think there's been a misunderstanding here. You see I would never ever do such a horrible thing to an innocent little girl."

"My daughter says that you did it"

"Well I didn't!" Granddad said stubbornly. "And you can't prove nothing!"

"We have a witness".

"A witness?" Granddad repeated.

"Yes they say that says you did it"

"There was nobody else there!"

"My daughter was there"

"She aint no witness. It was just the two of us!"

"So you admit that you were alone with my daughter?"

"Yes, but all I did was garb her with my hand!"

"So you admit you touched my daughter with your hands?"

"Yes but just to help her cross the road, because she couldn't do it by herself"

"So you admit that my daughter was helpless when you approached her?"

"Yes. I decided to help her out because I thought she was really cute!"

"So you admit that you find my daughter attractive?"

"You should probably stop now" Michael said to Granddad.

Lucy lifted her briefcase onto her lap and opened it. She shuffled through some folders and placed them on her lap, putting the briefcase back down.

"As you can see here" she said, holding up a photograph of what looked like a pink outfit that was cut and torn everywhere. "We have photographs the clothes my daughter was wearing, which are now ripped as things of violation"

"You can't prove I did that!"

"And here we have your fingerprints which were found on the clothes and on my daughter". She held up a set of fingerprints on paper, which read 'Match to Robert Freeman'.

Granddad stared at the piece of paper, his jar hanging open.

"And finally we have a tape recording that my daughter coincidentally had on her and was running at the time you molested her". She held up a small tape recorder. She pressed the button of it and let it play for everyone in the room to hear.

'_My pleasure cutie pie. Now what's a nice little girl like you doing out here all by yourself?'_

Granddad's jar opened even further.

"And here is an edited and even more incrementing version of that tape". She held up yet another recorder in her other hand and pressed the button.

'_What a nice girl…by herself…My pleasure…..my p-p-p-p-pleasure….my p-p-p-pleasureeeeee'._

It now looked like Granddad's jar might unhinge all together.

"Oh man Granddad" Riley said, annoyed. "They got you on tape!? What the hell is the matter with you? It's bad enough you go around molesting little kids, but what the hell kind of fools goes and gets himself caught doing it?"

"I did _not_ molest anybody!" Granddad roared at Riley, venting his frustration.

"Well that's not what the very credible tape says" Michael said dryly.

"My Granddad didn't do anything to your daughter" Huey said directly to Lucy. "You're just lying to exploit us for money"

"If there's one thing I have learned from this justice system" Lucy said. "It's not about what actually happened but what someone is making it look like happened. So we will expect that agreed upon sum within the week"

"Granddad" Huey said. "This is extortion. You can't give in to it"

"Yeah then you'd be a coward _and _paedophile" Michael added.

"If you do _not_ pay us" Lucy said, "Then will we go the police as well as the various media outlets and inform them of this transgression"

"And what makes you think they'll take your side of the story" Granddad challenged.

"Mandy" Lucy said, addressing her daughter, who had yet to speak. "Did this man molest you?"

Less than a second after she was ask, Mandy let a terrified wail and began to sob hysterically. She dropped to the ground and put her hands in her face. She lifted them away just long enough to begin to spout complete gibberish from her mouth and move her hands in multiply direction, as if she was trying to help visualise what she was saying. She finished her story by pointing over to Granddad, who looked completely bewildered and then sobbed even louder, burying her face in her mother's lap. Then out of nowhere, she abruptly stopped in her performance and stood back up, her face returning to normal.

"She said yes" Lucy said to the others.

"She didn't _say_ anything!" Granddad protested. "She just started crying!"

"And that _will_ hold up in court" Lucy responded with a nod of confirmation.

Granddad appeared worried by her statement, but his face hardened as he spoke again.

"You think you come into my house and intimated me with your accusations and your threats and all your evidence, but I aint interested! I'm not paying you a damn thing. And now get out!"

Lucy narrowed her eyes at Granddad, before standing up and leading her daughter down the hall and out of the house without another word.

"Humph. Think I'm just gonna let them bully me" Granddad said once he heard the door close. "Well they got another thing coming"

"I can't believe you Granddad" Riley said. "You a paedophile? I knew this would happen. You just can't keep away from them hoes even if their our age"

"How is she a hoe?" Michael asked.

"She wants our money for having sex with Granddad. If that aint a hoe, I don't what is"

"I did not have sex with that little girl! If she was a couple years older and she _looked _legal then yeah, but I didn't do nothing to her and sure as hell aint paying. They can do their worst"

* * *

Fifteen minutes later….

"_We're here outside the home of the notorious paedophile Robert Freeman, aka the Monster of Woodcrest, aka the Senile Stalker, aka Bobby the Booty Bandit. For years this quiet little neighbourhood had been plague this predator and now finally a courageous little girl has the chance to speak up and help put an end to this monsters rampage"_

_The news woman was standing on the lawn of the Freeman household. A large crowd of spectators, photographers, reporters and parents groups was gathered around her, all them gawking, taking photos or otherwise shouting protest. _

_The camera moved over to Lucy and Mandy. The news woman bent down and spoke directly with Mandy._

"_Now Mandy, did Robert Freeman molest you?". Looking at the camera, Mandy broke into hysterical sobs and cried nonsensical words. The camera moved up to Lucy._

"_She said yes"_

"_She said yes" the news woman repeated into the camera._

Granddad was watching the news report with anger, while the three boys had more passive expressions.

"Aw man" Riley said once Granddad turned off the TV. "How could you do this us Granddad?"

"You?" Granddad said in anger. "It's me they calling a paedophile!"

"Yeah but they know we's your grandkids and we live with you. Now everybody's gonna think you molested us too. You've made us all look like a bunch of gay niggas!"

"Yes because _that's_ what important here" Michael said sarcastically.

"This is just slander" Huey said. "You can't fight it, but it'll only hurt you if you let it. Just ignore it and it will go away. Eventually"

"What about the police?" Riley asked. "She said they would go to them if we don't pay and they got all that evidence against Granddad"

"They don't have anything concrete, like DNA. If we just hold our ground and not give them anything else to use"

"Or maybe we should just pay the money?" Michael suggested. "What about the fifty grand we won at the dodge ball game. Where's that?"

"Mmmm". Granddad put his hand to his chin as he slowly began to remember what he did with that money.

"_Yeah ha baby. Woohoo!"_

_Granddad was sitting at a private table in some club, wearing a fancy suit and surrounded by beautiful woman, some of whom were dancing on the table. There was loud music playing in the background and there were rows of drinks everywhere. As more woman started to dance, Granddad threw wades of hundred dollar bills into the air, and laughed in a wild frenzy._

"Uhhh….I put into some saving bonds for you boys" Granddad said vaguely. "So uh it probably be real hard to get it back out again"

"Besides" Riley said, "If we give them money, then they'll just ask for more and more"

"Well Bobby here should have thought of that before he made a move on" Michael said.

"Granddad goes for every woman he ever sees. And they all hoes. The only problem is this time, he got one that charged him to much"

"I'm going out" Granddad said finally.

"I think that would be a very bad idea" Huey warned.

"I don't have anything to be ashamed of. I ain't hiding away from the world. No matter people say about you, you gotta face it with your head held high".

Granddad stood firmly and then looked back at the TV for a minute.

"I think I'll go out the back".

* * *

"So that's the story" Granddad finished as he moved another checker piece on the board. He was out in the park, playing his usual checker game with Ruckus.

"Mm. You know when I heard what they say about you on the news I didn't know what to believe" Ruckus said moving another piece." I mean I know you aint nothing but a sorry ass, no good, waste of space, shit stinking, mentally retarded, crossed eye, monkey faced, piece of Negro garbage, that so much as deserve to breath in God good air. But a child molester too? Now that shocked me beyond words which is a very rare thing"

"Yeah I know" Granddad said, ignoring Ruckus's earlier remark. "It's ridiculous. And they want me to pay them money"

"Yes well all nigga money is in fact someway stolen from the white man"

"Well did nothing wrong and I don't owe anyone anything!"

"You know I wouldn't blame if you did try and take advantage of a little white girl" Ruckus said, moving another piece. "After all, even at the tender age of 2 and a half, the white woman is far more alluring to the common nigga than any black woman."

"Well now the whole towns thinks I'm some kind of monster. Hell I had to sneak out of the house and I think the police will be wanting to question me soon. Aw it's gonna be rough"

"Well don't you worry about it Robert. I have a feeling this whole will sort itself out very soon"

"Thank you Ruckus" Granddad said gratefully. He looked away from him, a little embarrassed. "I know we don't really eye to eye all the time, but I really do think of us as friends and I really appreciate-"

Granddad yelped as Ruckus quickly jumped on top of the checker board, knocking the pieces to the ground.

"OVER HERE" he yelled to everyone in ear shot. "The evil child molesting monster is over here! We gotta lynch him before he violates another beautiful little white girl!".

Ruckus pointed down to Granddad as he yelled to the onlookers and then pulled out a rope with a noose from his back with his other hand. Granddad looked up at Ruckus and then over at the angry crowd that was now approaching. He looked back and forward between them for a second.

"AGGHHHHHH!"

Granddad ran away as fast as he could, the mob and Ruckus giving chase to him.

* * *

"Aw man. This is bullshit. Granddad's gonna go to jail and we're gonna be homeless. Or worse. With social services"

The boys were sitting around in the living room. Riley was lying on the couch, Michael on the armchair and Huey standing by the table.

"You know I once heard of a guy" Michael said. "Who picked up some girl hitchhiking and gave her a lift home, but then she asked him for a thousand dollars. And if he didn't pay she would say he tried to rape her"

"Did he pay?" Huey asked.

"No, he raped her"

"See?" Riley said, sitting up right. "That proves all women are hoes. You so much as look at one and they want money because we're the ones taking advantage of them. If they don't want anybody to try and grope them, then they should just put on some weight"

"Well it's not really their fault if their having rocking hot bodies. Look at Sarah"

"Yeah you keep jumping in her chest and no body calls her a paedophile. Where's it written in our constitution that only a guy can be a pervert? If a woman rapes a guy like that girl with the dragon tattoo, isn't she the one violating the man?"

"Well what if the man is gay? That technically makes him like girl. So if he gets raped by a man it's like raping woman, but he gets raped by a woman is like raping a woman?"

"Hell no" Riley said. "If a gay nigga gets raped by a guy that makes the guy doing the raping a gay nigga, so it don't matter. And the nigga getting raped is raped by a woman that makes the woman gay too cos she raping a gay nigga, which is like raping another woman"

"Okay but what if-"

"Stop" Huey said, raising hand to cut them off. "Just stop. Where do think Granddad is?"

"Probably getting lynched" Michael said.

"Let's face it" Riley said. "He aint ever coming back. He's either going to jail or run off with that pig tailed hoe. Well I say we get out of here and forget about Granddad. He's dead weight to us now. We gotta get outta here before he takes the rest of us down with him. Take what we can and start somewhere fresh"

"I'll get the fire ready" Michael said, getting up to leave.

"No" Huey said. "We need to help Granddad. The only way for this to go away is if we find some evidence that will discredit Mandy"

"And why we got to do anything?" Riley said. "Granddad got himself into this and now we're the ones who got fend for ourselves"

"He's our family" Huey said firmly. "We have to do something"

"Right" Michael nodded. "Fire".

"No" Huey repeated.

"Oh come on!" Michael said, pleadingly. "I have a lot of napalm I need to get rid of"

"We need an idea that doesn't involve napalm"

"Oh wait I got it" Riley grinned. "I know exactly what to do. Give me the phone".

Riley grabbed the phone from the counter and dialled an unknown number. Michael turned to Huey.

"You do know that whatever he's about to do is probably gonna be worse than burning the house down?"

"I truly wish that you were wrong" Huey said, grimly.


	16. Chapter 16

Boondocks Chapter 16

An hour after Riley made his phone call there was a knock on the door. Michael was first on the scene and opened the door to a tall man, dressed in an all purple suit, with a cane. Michael looked up and down at the visitor for a second.

"Who the fuck are you?" he asked.

"I am a Pimp Named Slickback" the man replied.

"And I'm an arsonist named Michael"

"Well An Arsonist Named Michael, A Pimp Named Slickback has come here today at the request of young Riley Freeman, who has need of A Pimp Named Slickback's expert knowledge and experience in dealing with hoes, bitches and all other lesser sub species of woman in general. If you would be so kind as to allow A Pimp Named Slickback to enter, so that my services can be used to their fullest extent"

Michael stared at this man for a long minute before speaking again.

"You know something? You_ know_ what you are. And I respect that. Come on in"

Together the two of them walked into the living to join Huey and Riley. Riley smiled at seeing Slickback as he took a seat, while Huey shook his head giving off his usual pane of disapproval.

"You called a Pimp Named Slickback?" he said to Riley

"Of course. Who else can tell us how to handle a hoe that runs her mouth off?"

"That is indeed correct young Riley" Slickback said as he took a seat, resting his cane on the couch. "Now I have been informed that you boys seek guidance in your struggle against an uppity bitch who has been throwing around heavy accusation about your grandfather"

"Yeah she been telling everyone that Granddad molested her" Riley said. "Now I don't really mind if Granddad wants to get a run at some little girls, but not if they be snitching on him. Gots to them to shut up else everybody think we seat on Granddad's dick too"

"While I do not usually condone such degrading and otherwise illicit sexual pro-activity on your grandfather's part" Slickback said, stroking his beard. "I will indeed advise you how to manage such a loud mouth bitch. The first thing step that you must take is to take both an assertive and dominate stance in front of said bitch. The second step that must be taken is to pray strongly to the good Lord, with him all things are possible, to give strength to your pimp hand, before you strike that bitch down"

"So your advice is just to hit her?" Huey asked, with a note of contempt in his voice.

"That's right" Slickback nodded.

"She is already trying to portray herself as a victim" Huey said. "How the hell is beating on her gonna make her look bad?"

"Because my dear Huey, if there is one thing A Pimp Named Slickback knows for definite it's that if you strike a hoe hard enough, fast enough and consistently enough every single time they try to open their mouths they will eventually learn to keep them shut. It all relate to the great work of Ivan Pavlov. He was perhaps one of the most important men in the pimping industry as he developed the theory of classic conditioning which states how animals can learn to associate a conditional response to an unconditional stimulus. In this case, it would be a hoe associating the conditional response of staying quiet with the unconditional response of me smacking the shit out of them. So if you want that bitch to fall into line, hit her, hit her and never stop hitting her"

"Yeah" Riley said, nodding his head in respect.

"What about her lawyer?" Michael asked.

"Uh…lawyer?" A Pimp Named Slickback repeated.

"Yes. Her mom is a lawyer"

"Now nownownownow hold up a second here" Slickback said, a little nervous. "You _never_ said _anything_ about lawyers. You can go fuck Pavlov, cos A Pimp Named Slickback don't go anywhere near a bitch who's got a lawyer. I repeat does _not _go _anywhere_ near a bitch with a lawyer."

"Well yeah she got lawyer" Riley said. "Name is Lucy Cartile or something"

"Wait a second" Slickback said. "Did you say Lucy Cartile?"

"Yeah"

"Oh deary me" he said grimly. "I am afraid that I'm all too familiar with that particular public official. She is the most effective, the most vindictive and the most unrelenting lawyer that deals in victimised women, A Pimp Named Slickback has _ever_ seen. See some my hoes have at times tried to get a hold of her and press charges against me, claiming that I am abusive toward them and seek to acquire some of my hard earned money through a legal proceeding. Now I tell you what I have to smack them hoes around at least twice a day to keep them from so much as even thinking about Lucy Cartile. No sire. A Pimp Named Slickback is _not_ about to go to war with Lucy Cartile"

"What do you mean by victimised women?" Huey asked.

"I mean is that she always takes on female clients who were molested, violated, raped, groped, smacked, or otherwise treated in a so called unfair manner and then demands a huge cash pay off else somebody goes to jail. And in this case, it aint gonna be me. So as far as anybody knows, I was never here, you don't know me and I aint say shit about no hoes or bitches being smacked.

Slickback rose up from his seat. He looked at each of the boys in turn and tipped his hat at them. "And now I bid a fond farewell to you Riley, Huey and An Arsonist Named Michael". And with that he made his leave.

"I like him" Michael said approvingly when he heard the door close.

"That was very counter-productive" Huey said.

"Well at least I'm doing something around here" Riley said. "The fuck you doing to help huh?"

"We're going to see Tom" Huey stated. "Come on". Without waiting up, Huey walked down the hall and out the door, leaving Michael and Riley alone.

"Hell no" Riley said, crossing his arms and looking away. "I already done my service for the day, but nobody thanks me. I aint gots to go nowhere or do noth-".

Michael unceremoniously punched Riley in the side of his head, knocking him down. Michael then grabbed Riley by the collar and dragged him along, following Huey.

* * *

"Lawsuits?" Tom said, as he stood in front of Huey, Michael and Riley, who was rubbing his head and eyeing Michael with a dark look.

"Yeah" Huey said. "I need you to find out about any lawsuits filed due to sexual harassment, molestation or assault in the last five years. Also, look up the name Lucy Cartile or Mandy Cartile"

Tom mauled these instructions over for a second, before taking out his phone. "I'll need to make a few calls". He walked out into another room, leaving the boys alone.

As they waited Huey took a look around the rest of the house. He then glanced into the living to see that Jazmine was in there watching TV by herself. Huey looked at her for a second, then off in a different direction. Huey then felt someone nudge him in arm. He turned to Michael who stared him for a second and cleared his throat. Huey stare back at him, with no response.

Michael frowned a little and jerked his chin out a bit. Huey turned around to see he was gesturing over to Jasmine. Huey looked back at him, still with incomprehension. Michael rolled his eyes and let a groan. He put his hand on Huey's shoulder and pushed him forward.

"Get in here" he said impatiently.

After stumbling a couple of steps, Huey walked the rest of the way on his own, not really sure what he was supposed to be doing or why it was important. He walked up to stand beside the couch. Jazmine looked away from the TV as she noticed him coming.

"Hi Huey" she said, pleasantly.

"Hey" he replied flatly. They both stared at each for a minute, an awkward silence beginning to fall over them. Huey looked back at Michael who was rolling his hand at him, instructing him to keep going.

"So…" Huey said slowly, casting his gaze around the room. "How's….everything?"

"Pretty good" Jazmine said. "I got an A on my spelling bee and my mommy says that I'm doing really well in my dance class"

"That's…..notable" he said.

"Did you come over to hang out?" Jazmine asked eagerly.

"I came over to see your dad"

"About what?"

"I need his help in exposing an eight year old con artist, discrediting a corrupt public official, prove my grandfather's innocent in a rape case and show the public that tragedy does not beget credibility."

"Oh" Jazmine said simply. There was another minute of silence. "So… you don't want to hang then?"

"I'm busy" he replied. Jazmine looked away from him and lowered her head, a little dejected. Huey now started to feel a small sense of pity for her, but for some reason he also felt a little disappointment himself.

Huey cleared his throat before speaking again. "Maybe umm….when I'm not trying to exonerate Granddad….we could uh….go out for ice cream? Or something"

"Yeah that'd be great!" Jazmine said, her face lighting up. "Can we get vanilla?"

"Uh...sure" Huey said, with a light shrug. Once again they waited in silence, with Jazmine smiling happily at Huey, who merely frowned in return.

"Well… see you then" he said finally. He turned and walked back up to re-join Michael and Riley. Michael nodded approvingly at Huey upon his return and then gave him a thumbs up. Huey's frown deepened, annoyed.

After another few minutes, Tom re-entered the room with some papers

"Okay so I talked with some friends and they faxed me over some copies of the records you wanted. I also asked around and as it turns out Lucy Cartile is pretty famous for sexual harassment cases. She sets out that her clients were raped and then demanded a huge cash settlement."

"And how many of her clients were young girls, aged eight to twelve?" Huey asked.

"Well most of them actually" Tom replied, shuffling through some of his papers. "And she always wins. But it's mostly through intimidation, rather than hard evidence"

"Interesting" Michael said. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Do you have an address for where they live?" Huey asked Tom, who nodded. "You're gonna have to give us a ride"

* * *

Following the address, Tom and the boys found Mandy Cartile's home in a fancy housing estate. Her house was one of the largest and most extravagant looking ones, located beside a steep road. It had a six foot brick wall surrounding it, with a metal gate at the entrance.

On the drive up, Huey and the boys changed into some dark burglar outfits since it was already night time. Huey instructed Tom to drop the three of them off here and park the car around next block. Once he returned to them, Huey told him, Riley and Michael to hide in the bushes while he scoped out the building. Moving quietly and staying out of sight, Huey circled the wall of the house several times, taking note of anything relative. The first thing he noticed was a tree on the left hand side of the house, with some branches that went right over the wall. He also saw that the lights where on indicating that someone was in. Finally he saw that there was an open window around the back.

After almost half an hour, Huey returned to where he left Riley, Tom and Michael, though Michael was absent for some reason.

"So what now?" Riley asked.

"I've formulated a plan for us to break in, search the house and get out before anyone sees us".

"I don't know about this" Tom said, worried. "This is breaking and entering. If we get caught-"

"We'll go to prison and be anally raped. Yes we know" Huey finished. "But is the greater injustice to commit a crime or to be accused of a non-existent one? We just need to find something that will help prove Granddad's innocent"

"Yo how the hell we suppose to break into that house? " Riley asked. "It's like the fucking Purge up here"

"The first thing will need is a diversion"

"I got yo diversion. I'm gonna walk up to that doorbell and as soon as she answers, I'm gonna smack the shit out of that little snitching hoe"

"We need a diversion that will get everyone's attention away from the house long enough for us to sneak in" Huey explained. "We'll start by phoning the police, reporting a disturbance. We'll then leave an unmarked package on the street in front of the house. With some wires, we can rig the inside of it to look like a bomb. The police we'll then call in a bomb squad and evacuate the neighbourhood."

"Call that a diversion" Riley muttered with contempt.

"With everyone gone and the police focused on the fake bomb, we'll have at least twenty two minutes to climb the tree, jump the wall and head for the open window. Tom, you wait around the back and have the car ready for our getaway. Now once we're inside, all we just have to do is-"

Huey was cut off in his plan when he heard the sound of something approaching. He, Riley and Tom poke their heads out of the bush and were shocked to see a car running hill right at the house. However, what was actually shocking about it was that the car was on fire.

They watch as it smashed into the brick wall, creating a massive crack in the middle. After another few second, the car exploded in a fiery blast sending pieces of stone and metal everywhere. Flames and smoke up from it into the dark sky above. The explosion caused several car alarms to go off and eventually people started to pour out of their homes to see what the commotion was. They soon started to crowd around the flaming wreckage and some of them began to dial 911.

As if on cue, Michael seemingly appeared out of nowhere and kneeled down with the others in the bushes, chewing a match in his mouth. Huey regarded him with a cold stare while Tom was fixated on the burring vehicle with a terrified expression. Riley on the other hand…

"Yeeeaahhhhh" he said in excitement. "Now that's a diversion baby!"

"Diversion?" Michael said, confused.

"Come on!" Huey said quickly, deciding to take the opportunity.

Leaving Tom behind, the three boys ran along the bushes, still keeping out of sight. With everyone distracted, they climbed the tree on the other side of the house. From that vintage point, they could see someone opening the front door of the house and then running down to the fire. Once they were in the tree, Huey tied a rope onto a branch so that could make it back up. The three of them jumped down to the grass below, Huey and Michael landing gracefully, while fell on his ass. They then ran across the lawn, staying out of the light so that their presence would be kept hidden by dark cloths

When they reached the window, Huey carefully climbed inside what turned out to be the kitchen, followed suite by Riley and Michael. After taking a minute to admire the luxurious decor they split up to search the house. Huey elected to go upstairs, while Michael and Riley searched down stairs. It seemed as though the house was empty for the moment, but Huey moved cautiously none the less. He was looking for either Mandy or Lucy's bedroom, hoping to find some proof of evidence tampering in the latters.

He entered one bedroom that he assumed was Lucy's, as there was a dressing table with a mirror up against the wall. He also saw that there was a large wardrobe in the corner. Moving toward it, he opened the door to see that behind it was a set of outfits, though they appeared more like costumes. He realised that this must be Mandy's bedroom as she would probably be the one to keep all these clothes. They were an entire assortment of dresses and frilly skirts, all of them exceeding different and over the top.

After looking over the dresses, Huey went over to the dressing table, which was littered with all kinds of makeup kits. More than any eight year old girl would need. He opened the drawer of the dresser to find a small jewellery box and a book. He opened the box first and saw that it didn't have any jewellery but in fact pictures. And not regular pictures either.

The photos were of many different people and looked like they had been taken from a distance without them even knowing it. Some of the photos were of the same people and many with shot from different angles. As Huey shuffled through the pictures, he found one of Granddad having an angry argument with some stranger on the street. Putting the box down again, he looked into the book next. Inside of it were a list of different names, addresses and even back stories. All of them referring to a young girl.

Huey was now beginning to piece things together.

* * *

"Okay so if a guy rapes a guy their both gay and if a girl rapes a guy their both guy, but what if someone is getting paid in that scenario?"

"Then either gay, hoes or a pimps" Riley said replied. Or their just gays and hoes. Aint never heard of no gay pimps"

The two of them were searching through the living for anything of interest. Riley was over by the TV and Michael at the phone. Riley was going through some DVDs on a rack

"Man who the fuck watches this shit" he said. "I never even heard of these films. 'The Orphan', 'The Woman in Black' "The Uninvited'. Man this bitch is messed up".

Michael wasn't paying Riley any attention. He was buys looking through a notebook that was beside the phone. He was then brought out his thoughts when he heard the front door open. Moving fast he grabbed Riley and together they ducked behind the couch. Michael put his hand to Riley's mouth to make sure he stayed quiet. He peeked out from the couch just enough to see who had come in. As it turned out it was Mandy. She pulled out a phone from her back pocket and dialled a number.

"Hello? Lucy it's me" she said with a rather weary voice. "You heard what happened? Yeah the police are looking at. _No_ I didn't let them in. Look I don't know what happened! Just make this work for us and get someone to take the fall. Any way I was speaking to him before it happen and he wants his money as soon as we get it off the old man"

Mandy turned to look out the window as she continued to rant to her mother on the phone. With her back turn, Michael and Riley crawled out into the hall. They had to find Huey and get out before she saw them.

"Hey I do what I do and you do what you do. You always act like you're so busy to do these things. That's what Mom always said about you"

Michael stopped for a moment, his ears perking up a bit. He walked back a couple of paces, to stand up beside the door of the living room, moving his head put a bit to hear better.

"I said I don't what happened. Look just get it done. That's your job. I look cute and you look smart"

Realising that she was about to hang up the phone, Michael moved back down the hall before she turned around again. He found Riley waiting at the stairs for Huey. Luckily he appeared within moments, having heard the sound of the door opening. Together the three of them tried to move quickly without making any noise back to the kitchen. On the way down, Riley's arm brushed against a vase, causing it to wobble for second without falling but he didn't even notice.

When they finally made it into the kitchen, they saw that the window was now closed for some reason. Climbing onto the counter, Michael tried to open it again but was struggling to do so.

"Open it!" Riley hissed.

"It's stuck" Michael said in a hushed whisper.

"Stuck? How the hell is it stuck? It was open when we came in!"

"Well someone must have closed it again. And you where the lasts one in"

"Oooh so that mean I must have closed it then? You accusing me of sabotaging us?"

"No I'm accusing you of being an idiot!"

"Me? You can't even open a window!"

"I can't figure this damn lock on it. Am I supposed to turn it or lift it up or what?"

"Let's just break it!"

"Then they'll know we broke in!"

"Nigga their gonna know if they see us trying to open a window from the inside. Now either get out of the way and break it!"

"Too late" Huey said, looking away from them. Riley and Michael stopped their arguing and looked in the same direction that Huey was. They all felt a stab of fear when they saw Mandy standing in kitchen, looking directly at all three of them.

"Well well well" she said calmly. "What have we here? Three little rapists breaking into my house to take advantage of me. Guess you must all take after your sick grandfather. Which means you'll all be paying me my well earned money"

"You haven't earned anything" Huey said coldly. "All you've done is lie and exploit people by making yourself look like a victim"

"I am just using my appearance to get what I want, which is the god given right of all women" Mandy said with a smug smile. "It's no different than using your hands to make a painting or your legs to run a marathon. It a skill that I used to survive, because people will always believe what they see with their eyes and never what's right in front of them. As long as I have my sweet and innocent appearance, I can get away with anything. And there's nothing you can do about it"

"Hold up" Riley said. "I know exactly what I'm gonna do". He walked right up to Mandy and stood in front of her for a minute. He then closed his eyes and placed both his hands together in a prayer like fashion.

"Lord, please pray for the soul of this bitch and guide my hand and make it strong…."

"Oooh no" Michael said gravely.

"So that she may learn a hoes place. Amen". As soon as he was finished, Riley raised his right hand and slapped Mandy across the face, while she was initially confused by his earlier action. Riley let out a huge grin and gave Huey and Michael a thumbs up, while they both looked appeared mortified.

Mandy soon recovered from Riley's strike and turned her head back up to face him with a death glare. Lifting up her own arm, she punched Riley square in the face knocking him right back into the counter. Riley clutched his face with both hands, moaning in pain.

"Ah screw it" Michael said. He pulled his arm forward and smashed the window open with his elbow. Huey then grabbed Riley by his collar and threw him out the window. He soon jumped out himself, followed by Michael.

After pulling Riley to his feet, the three of them ran as fast as they could back to the rope, which was still hanging from the branch. The hurriedly climbed up the rope and then down the tree. They could hear that the police were still around the other side of the house but that didn't prompt them to slow down. Running down the street and around the next block, they found Tom waiting for them in the car. Together, the three boys opened the door of the back seat and dived right in, Riley chanting quickly at Tom.

"Gogogogogogogogogo!"

* * *

After driving at an extremely fast pace for almost half hour, Tom finally slowed down when he was certain that they weren't followed, though he kept glancing in the mirrors nervously.

"So did you find anything" he asked after a minute.

"I found a closet full of various disguises for a young girl, as well as a ledger of different names, aliases and identities. I also found surveillance taken of numerous men, including Granddad. It proves my theory that all of Lucy's clients were really her daughter and that they are simply targeting people to set up for harassment and then sue"

"So Granddad really didn't molest her?" Riley said with surprise

"No but that still doesn't help us prove he didn't. Did you guys find anything?"

"I found a bunch of shit DVDs"

"I overheard her talking to her mother" Michael said. "And as it turns out, she not really her mother. She's her sister"

"What?" Huey said.

"Yeah, me and Riley heard her talking on the phone. I also found something else that might be interesting. I was looking at her house phone and I saw that she had been making and receiving regular calls with a certain number. Then I looked in her phonebook and found the number listed under a Dr Malvik, who works down at the hospital"

Huey listened carefully to everything Michael had just said. He decided that this might be worth taking a look into as they still had found nothing that could get them out of this situation.

* * *

"I'm terribly sorry but that's confidential" the doctor said.

The boys were now at the hospital, standing at the reception with Dr Malvik. He was an older looking man with a greyish beard. They had asked him for any information about Mandy, but he refused to give any. Huey tried once again to coerce the information out of him but he wouldn't budge.

"I'm sorry but I can't just give out patient records on a little girl to three little boys. Now if you'll excuse me". The doctor then left them to go speak with someone else down the hall.

"Man this is bullshit" Riley complained. "What kind of a hospital is this? Not even gonna help a nigga out. If ever get sick I aint going here"

"Okay I have a plan" Huey said. "Frist we-

For the second time tonight Huey was cut off in his plan. This time it was when a stretcher that was on fire went hurdling right past himself and Riley down the hall. They looked over to see people scream and duck out of the way of the blazing stretcher. Once it crashed, everyone was rushing to put out the fires. At that moment Michael walked back up to Riley and Huey, outreaching his arm.

"After you" he said.

Without any complaint, Huey looked into the receptionist desk to find Dr Malvik's office. They set off for it down the other hall. With everyone distracted, they entered it without trouble. Inside Huey began to search through patient names, trying to find Mandy's.

"Yes! Found it!"

Huey turned his head up from the folders over to Michael. "What did you find?"

"The lollipops" He replied holding up a jar of different coloured sweet. "Duh". Michael opened up the lid and stuck his hand inside the jar. Huey ignored him and continued to look through the folders until he finally found Mandy's. He read straight through it, his eyes widening as he processed what it said.

"This is it" he said. "This explains everything"

"What?" Riley asked.

"This records show that Mandy's Cartile has Hypopituitarism. It's a hormone disorder that stunts physical growth, leaving people with a small appearance. And this birth certificate shows that she was born 43 years ago. She's no eight year old girl"

"Huh just like that movie" Michael said, trying to pick out a certain lollypop.

"Oh man" Riley said. "Then Granddad really did have sex with her. He always goes for old hoes that look like younger woman"

Huey closed the folder and was about to tell the others to leave when the door of the office opened. Everyone, except Michael, looked up see Dr Malvik opening and closing the door behind him. For a minute he did nothing but stare at them. He then looked down at the folder in Huey's hand. As soon as he saw it, he quickly grabbed Riley by his collar and pulled out a scalpel from his pocket.

The doctor held Riley tightly in a headlock and pressed the scalpel right up to his neck. Riley ceased his struggle as soon as he saw the blade. Huey tensed up, his eyes focused on Riley, while Michael has his back to them, still rummaging through the lollypops.

"I can't let you expose her" Malvik said desperately. "I have too much at stake"

"What do you mean?" Huey said.

"I know all about Mandy Cartile's dark secret but I'm the one who makes sure it's never revealed. You see I was once nothing but a simple doctor. I got up in the morning, eat breakfast, went to work and perform life threatening surgery just like the common joe. But that all changed the day I met Mandy Cartile. She had and her sister approached me and told all me about their scheme to exploit the system. I was shocked beyond words, but then something incredible happen! They offered me something I had never had before. Something I craved. They offered me….a taste!"

"Dammit where is the freaking orange?" Michael muttered in the background.

"A taste of money. Real money!" Malivk continued, his hold on Riley still as tight. "Money is everything. It makes the world go round and without it you'll never get anywhere! I keep their medical records quiet and I silence anyone who comes snooping. And all for 10% of every lawsuit!"

"Is 10% of eighty thousand dollars really worth the life of an eight year old boy?" Huey asked.

"It is to someone like me" Malvik said, his voice strained. "Someone who has never had that kind of money before in his life!"

"But you're a doctor" Huey said, confused. "Don't you make like a hundred thousand a year?"

"Don't patronise me!" he screamed dramatically, brandishing his scalpel wildly in the air.

"Huey stop aggravating this crazy nigga!" Riley hissed.

"I won't let you take my money away from me! I will kill all of you! Here and now!"

Malvik moved his scalpel up to Riley's neck and was about to cut him right in his jugular. Huey, now beginning to truly fear for his brother's life, balled his hands into fists and prepared to jump in to save him.

"Ah ha! Here it is!" Michael said triumphantly. He finally pulled out the elusive orange flavoured lolly. He took off the plastic wrapping and placed the sweet into his mouth. He smiled in satisfaction for a moment, before swiftly grabbing the jar of lollypops and throwing it straight at Malvik's head. The glass shattered on impact, spreading everywhere. Malvik's grip on Riley loosened just enough for him to slip out from under his arm. Once he was free, Riley then elbowed him right his groin. He fell to the ground with a whimper and curled himself into a ball.

"Crazy motherfucker" Riley murmured, rubbing his throat. He then looked over at Huey. "The fuck is wrong with you?!"

"Me?" Huey said incredulously.

"Yeah you! What the hell you doing just standing there, while some crazy nigga tries to cut me up. That how you handle a hostage situation? Mind me never to get hostage again, else you gonna let me die"

"I was waiting for the right moment" Huey said. "That man could have actually killed you!"

"That would probably make things a lot more serious around here*" Michael said, the lollypop still in his mouth. He picked up a red one off the ground and handed it to Riley who took it without hesitation. Michael then picked up a purple coloured one and offered it to Huey. Huey eyed it for a minute, before taking it as well.

* * *

"So that's the deal" Huey said. "Take it or leave it"

He was sitting at the dining table, with Riley, Michael and Granddad. On the opposite side of the table was Mandy and Lucy, looking somewhat perturbed by their offer.

"So it is agreed" Lucy said with her business like tone, "That if we drop all charges against you and your family, you will return to us my sister's medical records and agree to keep it quiet?"

"Yes" Huey nodded.

"You've played the game well Mr Freeman" Lucy said with a note of respect. "But remember there is no middle ground"

"This aint Game of Thrones. Just do what we asked and stay the hell away from my family"

Nodding once again, Lucy pulled out her pen and signed a contract that Huey drew up, which set the terms of their agreement. They would say nothing about Mandy's condition or her real age in exchange for immunity from their schemes. It also had a side note about Riley staying a hundred yards away from Mandy at all times.

After all parties signed their names on the piece of paper, Huey handed Lucy the medical report her took from the hospital. Taking it without hostility, both Lucy and Mandy stood up and left without another word.

"Whew" Granddad sighed in relief. "Thank god that's over"

"Thank god?" Huey said. "I don't remember god breaking into anyone someone's house and a hospital to find evidence"

"Oh look at that" Riley said wit distaste. "Huey Mchater's hatin on god now. Not giving anybody any credit. Well what about me?"

"What did you do?"

"I called A Pimp Named Slickback"

"That didn't help us at all"

"Cept that he told us how that bitch was always going for abuse cases. Hell I bet you would never have figured her game out if I aint call A Pimp Named Slickback. You don't give nobody credit"

"Mm you know he right" Granddad said thoughtfully. "You ought to be more respectful of other people you out Huey. Don't be a taking all the credit for yourself. I'd be ashamed you call you my grandson"

"Haha yeah that right's Granddad" Riley said with a pompous laugh.

Huey rolled his eyes at both Granddad and Riley. He stood out of his chair and walked out of the room into the kitchen, but was followed by Michael.

"Ah don't mind them" he said. "He may not admit, but your grandfathers grateful"

"I guess" Huey said. "But you know what did we really achieve? Mandy and Lucy are just going to keep on suing people and nobody will know the truth about them. What's worse is that we allowed it to go on"

"They'll get theirs sooner or later" Michael said, plaintively. "Don't let it get you down. Besides we had a lot of fun today"

"Fun?" Huey repeated with disbelief. "We broke into a house, Riley assaulted a 43 year old dwarf, a crazy doctor nearly killed us and you blew up a car. You call that fun?"

"Yeah" he said with a smile. "I really enjoy hanging out with you guys. Do what you enjoy Huey. Do what you enjoy". Michael smiled again as he turned around and left the kitchen, with Huey still looking in his direction with a curious expression.

* * *

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing of anything that was mentioned or referenced.

Hope you enjoyed it. It was partly filler. What comes next chapter is….somewhat serious. At least as serious as I can make this without going over the top. Might be a well. Bye bye.


	17. Chapter 17

_It's been nearly six months since the day Michael Ringer came into our lives. In many ways things have been different since then and at the same time, things have remained the same. But the real question is if it has meant anything? Unfortunately, we going to find our answer in what comes next. And what comes next ain't gonna be pretty_

* * *

"Fuck you, fuck yo curly hair, fuck yo fires, fuck yo big secret lockbox, fuck yo marathon running mom, fuck yo old ass stepdad, and fuck yo real dad!"

"I didn't even know my real dad" Michael said, barely even acknowledging Riley from across the room.

"Yeah well, I bet he was faggot ass bitch just like you, who don't have any respect for nobodies privacy!"

"Riley, all he did was walk across the room" Huey said, as he was typing on the computer.

"Yeah he walked right on to_ my_ side of the room!" Riley fumed. "See there's yo side of the room and my side of the room and then there's that small corner of the room that Michael sleeps in. That's the whole point of having different sides of the room so those sides belong to those the niggas who sleep in em."

"There aren't any sides of the bedroom" Huey said. "It's everybody's"

"It's bullshit" Riley snapped. "We have this big ass house and the three of us have to share this one bedroom?"

"Wow he's actually making sense on this one" Michael said sarcastically. "You should be proud of him Huey"

"The day I'm proud of him for making sense, is the day I destroy everything I ever believed in" Huey said coldly.

"I didn't even do anything" Michael said to Riley. "All I did was go to pick up my shirt"

"Yeah that shirt that was on _my_ side of the room. That makes it mine! And you can't touch anything on my side of the room. What if that had been my shirt? That be an invasion of privacy"

"So I can't touch anything on your side of the room?" Michael inquired, getting out of his seat and walking up to one side of Riley's bed.

"Yeah that rights" Riley confirmed, standing on the other side.

"So can't just put my hand on your bed?" Michael hovered his right hand just above the covers of Riley's bed. "Like this?"

"Naw" Riley said, quickly catching on to what Michael was doing. "See right now, you just keeping yo hand an inch away from touching my bed, so you that aint really touching it. But if you do physically put yo hand on my bed then that does qualify that as touching my bed. And I know you aint be doing that"

"Really?" Michael asked slowly. He firmly planted his hand down on the bed.

"See I know aint really doing that" Riley said calmly.

"You sure? What me to be to make it clearer?" Michael stared to rub his hand all over the sheets and began to rapidly pat the bed.

"No you see I _know_ you aint doing that" Riley said angrily. "Cos if you were doing that, I'd be knocking you ass down a beating!"

"Funny I'm defiantly touching it and my ass remains un-beat"

"Then you better take a picture yo ass un-beat cos if you don't step back right _now_, then I aint ever going be that way again!"

"Oh boy!" Michael said with exaggerated fear. "He sounds really serious this time Huey. I think we might be in real trouble this time"

"Michael, don't provoke him" Huey warned.

"But he makes it _so_ easy" Michael now stepped onto the bed and starting jumping in the air, with Riley growing increasingly anger.

"I'm gonna give you till the count of three to get yo ass of my bed!" Riley yelled. "One!"

"By Jove he can count!" Michael exclaimed.

"Michael! Riley!" Huey said assertively. "The both of you knock it off now!"

"Two!" Riley continued.

"He's made it to two! That must be a new record!"

"I said stop it!"

"Will he make to three? Come on Riley you can do it!"

Riley now looked furious and was about to shout out the last number, when Michael suddenly stopped jumping and stepped off the bed. Michael smiled and gestured to the bed with his hands in what seemed to be his form of an apology. Riley overcame his surprise as he crossed his arms and grinned pompously.

"Now that's more like it. Bout time you leaner who's boss round here". Riley grinned once again as he turned his back to Michael. However that proved to be a mistake when Michael quickly stretched his arm over the bed and flicked Riley's ear with his fingers. Riley flinched as he put his hand to his ear. He turned back to Michael who was looking away innocently. Baring his teeth, Riley growled and lunged over the bed right at Michael who laughed in excitement. He tackled him to the ground, but Michael quickly flipped him over.

Huey sighed heavily and rolled his eyes at Riley and Michael behaviour. He turned away from them, ignoring the sounds of their brawl and returned his attention focused on the computer. That is until someone threw a shoe right at the back of his head. Huey let out a hiss when it hit him and he lightly rubbed his head. He then jumped out of his seat and flung himself right into the fray. The three of them were now wrestling with each other across the floor in a flurry of motion and shouting that didn't go unnoticed in the house.

"Boys! What the hell you doing?" Granddad had just entered the bedroom and to find three boys tangled up together. Huey had Michael in headlock, while Michael had Riley's arm pulled behind his back in submission hold. They abruptly stood still and looked up at Granddad with surprised faces.

"Michael started it Granddad!" Riley cried, still trapped in his hold. "He stepped onto my side of the room"

"I was provoked" Michael said, releasing Riley as Huey did the same to him.

"See that?! He don't even deny he did it Granddad!"

"Riley I told you. There are no sides of the bedroom" Huey said. "It's everyone's"

"Wrong" Granddad said. "This is my bedroom cos it's my house. I'm paying for it. And if y'all want to have sides in, then I'm the one who's gonna decide that. And Michael doesn't have any side of the room"

"Ha! Told you!" Riley said pompously.

"Cos he's getting his bedroom" Granddad finished.

"Say what?!"

"That's right. I finally got the guest room fixed up and I got a new bed so Michael can move out your room now boys"

The boys were silent as they took this in, except for Riley who was muttering indignantly under his breath.

"R-really?" Michael said to Granddad as if he wasn't sure if heard right.

"Yup. So pack up yo things. You're moving out of here"

"That's not fair Granddad!" Riley protested. "Why the hell does Michael get his own room?"

"Cos it's the guest room and he's a guest in this house"

"Why did it take you six months to get a new bed?" Huey asked.

"I aint made of money like those beds are" Granddad said, angrily. "The first time I went to that mattress king, they charged me way too much so I say to hell with y'all and yo expensive beds and I got out of there and left. I came back the next day to try haggle them down but they wouldn't budge, but I wouldn't budge either, so I kept coming back every few days to arguing with the sales man until they finally drop the price. See it's about persistence. That's why we have a black president."

"You spent six months negotiating for a bed?" Huey said critically

"Just be happy he didn't burn your beds down, else you'd all be sleeping on the floor". Granddad turned his attention back to Michael. "Now get your things ready"

Michael didn't seem too thrilled at Granddad's news. In fact he seemed a little disappointed .He looked in between Huey and Riley, as if he wasn't sure what to say. He then began to gather up his things and placed them into his red duffel bag. Once he was done he followed Granddad out of the room, glancing once last time at the boys.

"Well here you go". Granddad opened up the door to refurbished guest room down the hall, with the bed perfectly clean and brand new. Michael slowly walked inside the room and placed his duffel bag on the ground. He eyed everything with some reluctance.

"Now try not to burn this one alright?"

Granddad closed the door behind him and stood still in hall way. Then in under a second, his eyes widened as if he sensed some invisible force. He immediately flung the door open and saw that once again the bed was on fire.

* * *

"What…._**crack…**_the hell…_**crack**_…is wrong…_**crack**__…_with you?! _**Crack**__._ Do you…_**crack…**_have any idea, _**crack…**_how much…_**crack…**_I spent…_**crack**_**…**on that bed? _**Crack. **_Have you…._**crack…**_lost_**….crack… **_yo,_** crack…**_god_**…crack …**_damn_**…crack…**_mind?!"

Granddad panted heavily as delivered a few more blows. He finally stopped for a moment and tightened the belt around his hand.

"Alright now you can go back to the boy's room and think about how stupid you are!"

After listening to his Granddad's shouting and cracking of his belt for what must have been half an hour, Huey looked over to the door of the bedroom to watch as Michael limped his way in, dragging his duffel bag, with a mild expression of discomfort on his face.

"Ooh. Think I gave him an erection in there" he said, rubbing his backside.

"Why did you do it?" Huey asked.

"Well it wasn't intentional but he sounded really excited in there…."

"No I mean why did you set the bed on fire?"

"Well you know me Huey" Michael said a little vaguely. "I do love starting fires"

"You haven't tried to set a fire_ inside_ the house in months. Why would you do it now why you could have had your own room?"

Michael stared at Huey with a blank expression, before scratching his face and looking away from him. "Because… I see right into Sarah's room from here. Aint about to give that up"

He picked up his binoculars off the table and moved to the window.

"The standard perks that come with a single bedroom alone would more than make up for that"

"Like I said, I love starting fires"

"I guess" Huey said, remembering the first day Michael came here. "But I think your hiding something else"

"Let me guess" Michael said with a grin, pulling away from the window to look at Huey. "This is the part where I open up to you and tell you my feelings. How about we wait for Riley to come back and call us gay?"

Huey rolled his eyes once again and let out a small grunt, slightly annoyed at being rebuffed simply for trying to talk. Michael turned his head back to the window with his binoculars.

"You really got learn to relax Huey and stop acting let it's the end of the…Oh fudge!"

"What?" Huey said with concern, turning back to Michael. There was suddenly a sharp change in his voice. He was looking out the window intently and kept pulling his binoculars up and down, as if he was trying to confirm what he was seeing. He closed the curtains and put his back to the window. For the first time since Huey had ever met him, Michael looked afraid.

"What's the matter?" Huey asked, but Michael didn't answer him. Instead he ran across the room to his duffel bag and lifted it over his shoulders.

"Grab the printer and meet me downstairs"

"Why?" Huey asked.

"No time! Just do it!" Michael said as ran out the door. Despite his confusion, Huey did as Michael asked and unplugged the printer from the computer. He carried it all the way downstairs to hallway and then into the kitchen where he found Michael now going through the stuff in the fridge.

Setting the printer down on the table, Huey saw that Michael was now filling his bag up with food, mostly ready to eat stuff. He was also taking other items from the cabinets, such as some cooking oil and bug spray.

"I doubt you're this scared of Tom?" Huey said, taking a small guess on Michael's strange behaviour since he looked out the window.

"It's nothing to do with Tom" Michael said hurriedly, putting more items into his bag. He then paused to look up at Huey.

"You bring the printer?"

"Yeah"

"Good". Michael zipped his bag closed and slung it over his shoulder. He then scooped up the printer in both arms.

"Would you mind telling me what the hell is going on?" Huey said, having absolutely no clue what was happening.

"Look Huey, there's not much time" Michael said in a serious voice. "Just remember, if anyone asks, you, Riley and the old man don't know me and you have never heard of me before. I was never here. Got it?"

"Yeah" Huey said, hesitantly.

"Okay then". Lifting up the printer, Michael threw it straight through the kitchen window, breaking into pieces. He climbed up to the counter and threw his bag out the window. He then turned to Huey once again.

"Remember. You don't know me" he said, as it was the most important thing he had ever said to Huey. "And as soon as you hear a novelty car horn, lay down flat on the floor. And no matter what anyone says to you, I am _not _your family. Do you understand?"

"Yeah" Huey said once again. He didn't know what Michael was taking about, but he did understand that it was somehow important. Michael nodded to Huey and then jumped out of the window.

Huey was left standing alone in the kitchen, his eyes fixed on where Michael just was. An uneasy feeling of confusion settled over him. He didn't know what was about to happen next, but he knew it wasn't going to be good. He walked out the kitchen and found Riley in the living.

"Yo what the hell was going on in there?" he asked, once he saw Huey. "Oh man! Tell me Michael just broke the window. He did didn't he? Oh yeah! Granddad gonna whoop his ass hard this time! Haha!

Huey ignored Riley as he was still trying to piece together what was happening. Then all of his thoughts seemed to fall into place when he heard a car horn coming from the front of the house. Without pausing to think, Huey immediately fell flat on the floor, pulling Riley down beside him.

"What the hell we doing?" Riley asked.

"Shh" Huey whispered. They stayed on the floor for another few seconds, before Granddad walked in on them.

"What the hell you doing?" he demanded.

"Granddad get down" Huey said urgently.

"I aint getting down on the floor" Granddad said with distain. "Why the hell would I want to lay on a dirty floor that everybody stepped on with their dirty shoes and socks. Sides I hurt my back beating Michael ass, so I aint even gonn-"

Granddad's voice disappeared in an instant and now the only sound that filled the house was a thunder storm of gunfire. Bullets came flying through the front of the house, tearing everything to shreds. The windows shattered spraying glass everywhere, with dozens of holes appearing across the walls. Yet somehow every one of them seemed to be missing Granddad. He jolted into a panic and screamed his head off as he jumped behind the arm chair. Huey kept his head down and put one arm over to cover Riley's.

After a solid minute the gunshots finally ceased, completely decimating the living room. Huey and Riley raised their heads up from the ground, to see nothing but a thick cloud of dust everywhere. It slowly began to disperse as four men climbed in through the window, three of them carrying heavy assault rifles. The foremost guy, a bald man wearing a leather jacket stepped forward and looked down at the two boys. In his right hand was a 45mm. He pointed his gun at the two of them and then made a small flicking motion with it, in the direction of the couch.

"Sit" he said. Without question, Huey and Riley stood up and took a seat on the couch. The man in the leather jacket walked around the arm chair and found Granddad huddled up in fear. After taking one look at the man and his gun, Granddad hurriedly stood up and joined his grandsons on the couch. The three of them now sat side by side waiting anxiously for whatever came next.

The bald man walked out of the living room and down to the front door of the house. There was the sound of the door opening and closing, followed by two sets of oncoming footsteps. Returning to the living room, the bald man was now behind a fourth man who one could immediately be assumed to be his boss.

The newcomer wore a fancy, grey and striped coloured suit with a dark trench coat draped over his shoulders and black leather gloves on both hands. He appeared to be in about his late thirties, had a long pointed face, jet black hair and two hollow looking eyes. However the most interesting feature of this man was his skin colour. His skin was a light shade of grey. This coupled with his suit made it look like he had just fallen into a vat of wet cement. He eyed the Freeman family on their seats before smiling and opening his arms out widely.

"Hello there my black friends!" he said warmly. He spoke with slightly deep voice and a somewhat rich sounding accent. He began to pace up and down in front of the couch.

"Now you may wonder why I refer to you as my black friends. You may be immediately assuming that it's due to some deep rooted and ingrained racial stereotype which forces me to segregate you as being black people. Well it's not. I simply call you black, because you are in fact black people. I really don't see anything racist in stating something that's plainly obvious. For example if you were white I called you my white friends. If you're Asian, I would call you Chinese guy or Vietnamese guy depending on your region. And if you were Mexican, I would call you illegal immigrant. When people have differences that set them apart from others, I don't ignore them, I say them out loud. With youthful vigour! Otherwise it would be like having an elephant in the room"

He paused for a moment as he noticed the Freeman's all had quizzical looks on their faces.

"Oh but look at me now" he said, embarrassed. "Here I am talking about elephants in the room yet ironically_ I_ am being the elephant in the room since I just shot up your house and haven't even bothered to introduced myself. I am Cinereo. Cinereo Rasistskiy*. I'm the head of an international crime syndicate. I have argyria. I like big entrances and long walks on the beach. And uh….oh yes. I'm here looking for Michael Ringer"

Huey, Riley and Granddad all exchanged nervous glances with each other.

"Uhh…" Granddad said slowly. "Well the thing is…."

"We don't know anybody by that name" Huey said firmly.

"Really?" Cinereo said, his eyes now on Huey.

"Yeah" Huey replied, staring straight back at Cinereo.

"Uh yeah yeah!" Granddad said quickly. "We don't any little boys named Michael Ringer"

"I never said he was a little boy" Cinereo said calmly to Granddad.

"Well what I mean is um…" Granddad struggled with his words for a second. "What I mean is we don't know any little boys named Michael Ringer or full grown adults named Michael Ringer, which is what I was going to say before I got cut off"

"Oh well my apologies for not letting you finish" Cinereo said with a smile and nod of his head. "Please continue"

"Well as I was saying" Granddad resumed, now gaining more confidence as he spoke. "We don't know any crazy little arsonists named Michael and there defiantly hasn't been anybody by that name living with us for the past six months and setting our beds on fire"

"Mmm. Well you are_ very_ convincing" Cinereo said. "I'm sure you wouldn't mind if my hard working employees here, would be allowed to earn their pay by searching your lovely home"

Cinereo snapped his fingers and the three men with assault rifles all went off into different directions, leaving only the bald man behind.

"By the way sorry about this little mess" he said, indicating to the glass on the floor. "It's sort of our policy to do that before we come in"

"What if you killed everybody inside first?" Huey asked.

"Then we're ahead of schedule" Cinereo said brightly. "Now while we're waiting let me just say what a lovely home you have here. Although you three strike me as more of the inner city suburb type"

"Well we used to live in Chicago" Granddad said, trying to sound causal. "See I spent my life working to earn money to stay in a nice and peaceful neighbourhood. You know umm, the kinda of place where uh….people don't just go around shooting up other people's houses"

"So in other words, you just wanted to live the good life up here with the white supremacists. Pretty sad"

"What the hell do you know about white supremacy?" Huey asked, with a hint of accusation.

"Enough to know that throughout history the white race as always been in a state of dominating power over every other race and that the ideology of the white man being better suited to supreme positions over the non-whites is more or less integrated within the social structure of this very country, as out of the fifty five founding fathers of the Continental Congress, all of them were white, with fifteen of them being African slave owners, which would hardly be considered shocking back in that era, but it essentially proves that the political and economic structure of the U.S was designed by whites to serve the interest and needs of whites, and that even after over two hundred year, having had only one non-white president, our society still functions in way that keeps white people in charge"

Huey said nothing and merely raised an eyebrow at Cinereo once he had finished. Cinereo in turn looked surprised before, putting his hand to his face and letting a small laugh of embarrassment.

"Oh there I go again! Getting us all off topic. Oh you should see me when I drink. Oh dear! Ahhh. Anyway let's get back to matter at hand. What do you know about Michael Ringer?"

"We don't know anyone by that name" Huey repeated. "And it's just three of us who live here. No one else"

"So to be clear" Cinereo said. "You don't know Michael Ringer or where he is?"

"No" Huey said.

"Not to question the solidity of your statement but…"

Cinereo reached into his suit and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He opened it up, revealing it to be an old newspaper. Holding the top end of it, Cinereo put it in front Huey's face so that he could clearly see the paper. On the front of it was a picture of himself, standing beside Riley and Michael, all of them wearing a sports jersey. The headline of the paper read 'Team Freeman Beats the Chinese'.

"This sure does look like you in this photo" Cinereo said, turning the paper around to look at it himself. "With this boy who claimed to have never met before. Care to explain?"

Huey had his eyes fixed on the photo, his face unreadable.

"Yeah I know him" he finally said.

"Oh. So you did lie" Cinereo said with a mock frown.

"No" Huey said bluntly.

"Excuse me?"

"I said I don't know that kid. And I don't"

"You….just said you did" Cinereo said, uncertain.

"I was answering in response to the context of the your question which was ambiguous in nature"

"I don't suppose you'd care to elaborate on that"

"In its simplest definitions, to know someone can mean to have a familiarity and acknowledgement of someone who you have previously come into contact with. However some physiologists believe that to truly know someone to obtain either personal or impersonal information of that person through active and consistent communication. By that definition, I do not know Michael Ringer. He was just some kid we paid fifty dollars to play on our team"

Cinereo stared right into Huey as he spoke, with Huey returning the gesture. Neither one of them broke eye contact during Huey's speech. Finally he let out a small laugh and squatted down on his legs to face Huey at eye level.

"Did you memorise that over night?"

"I could have memorised an entire chapter of Martin Luther King's autobiography overnight. Don't insult me"

There was another of minute of silence, as Cinereo and Huey continued to stare right at each other.

"So…you don't know where he is then?" Cinereo simply said.

"Did I stutter?" Huey replied with a hint of attitude.

Cinereo raised an eyebrow to Huey. "What's your name boy?"

"Huey Freeman" he said.

"Okay Huey" Cinereo said, now looking amused. "How about this? Garcon." Cinereo clicked his fingers and the bald man behind him walked a few feet forward. Cinereo stuck his right hand out in the air with his palm opened. The bald put his 45mm right into Cinereo's opened hand. Cinereo took a firm hold of the gun, as he ran his other over it to inspect in it. He pulled the gun back to cock it and flicked a small switch on the side, before stretching his arm out and pointing the gun directly in Huey's face

"Tell me where he is…" he said very clearly. "Or I'll shoot you in your face". Huey stared right into barrel of the gun without fear or any other kind of emotion. He looked back up to Cinereo.

"I don't know where he is" he said honestly.

Cinereo raised an eyebrow once again at Huey's fortitude. He raised up his free hand and held up three fingers

"Three" he said slowly. Granddad shared some anxious glances with Riley, both of them considering whether they should do something.

"Two". Cinereo lowered his ring finger and paused for a minute, waiting to see if Huey would give any kind of response. Huey simply narrowed his eyes defiantly.

"One" he said warningly, lowering his middle finger next. Granddad and Riley now looked absolutely terrified, glancing between the Huey and the gun. Huey remained completely motionless.

"Zero". Cinereo lowered his last finger and in the instant he did, he pulled the trigger. Granddad and Riley closed their eyes and hugged each other in tight embrace. However after a few seconds they each opened one eye to see, Huey and Cinereo still in the same standoff.

There had not been any sound of a gunshot, but instead a small clicking noise. Huey did not appear the least bit surprise nor did Cinereo, who was still watching Huey carefully.

"You had the safety on" Huey said, having known all along that the gun was never going to fire.

Cinereo grinned broadly and stowed his gun away into the inside of his coat.

"Very impressive" he said which was no lie, as he did indeed sound impressed.

"I've always thought that the best way to judge a man's character is to point a gun in their face"

"Man you a pussy" Riley said, his earlier fear completely gone. "Don't even remember to take the safety off yo gun? What the hell kinda-"

Without even looking at Riley, Cinereo swiftly pulled out his gun again, pointed it in Riley's direction and fired. And this time the safety was definitely off. Riley nearly jumped out of his seat when he heard the shot go off. He looked over to see that the bullet hole in the couch was extremely close to where his head had been.

"Case in point" Cinereo said, still addressing Huey. He turned his head to Riley with a smug smile. "Do you need a tissue?"

"No!" Riley cried, sniffling a little.

At that moment the Cinereo's men return to living room after their search. He turned to address them next.

"Nothing boss" one of them said. "Can't find anything"

"Did you search the whole house" Cinereo asked suspiciously, as if he might have been expecting his men to slack off a bit.

"Yes sir boss" the man answer firmly. "We searched the whole house just like we always practice it"

"Good job" Cinereo said proudly, patting the man on his shoulder with approval.

"Uh I didn't" said another man.

"What?" Cinereo said looking at him.

"While I searched the house, but I used my own initiative instead of standard protocol"

Cinereo stared at him for a moment before looking around the room with a slightly frustrated expression. He then raised his gun up and shot his own man right in the head. Blood sprayed onto the wall as the man fall to the ground, dead.

"Shiiiiiiit" Riley muttered in shock.

"What hell I have I said about following protocol!?" Cinereo said out loud, speaking to everyone else in the room. "We have to work like well-oiled machine, with everyone doing their part as instructed. That's our system. If you think it's wrong, say so and give suggestions on improvement, don't be try to do some cowboy shit without consulting the rest of us. We're a team people. Remember that!"

"Yes boss" the remaining men said, hanging their heads down

"Good" Cinereo nodded his head to them. "And if I'm hard on you it's only because I want you to do well" He then looked back to the Freeman's

"Well it seems we have wasted our time here" Cinereo said, putting his gun away. He signalled his men it was time to leave and to pick up the body of the dead gunman. After his men had left, Cinereo turned to look at the Freeman family again with a smile.

"Terribly sorry for the trouble I caused. It was purely business, I assure you"

"That's okay" Granddad said quickly. "Um….you wouldn't consider paying for the damage to my house would you?"

"We do have a compensation plan for that. We can pay you back in the form of bullets"

"Bullets?" Granddad repeated.

"Oh yes" Cinereo nodded, now with a somewhat sadistic grin on his face. "Though um…you'd probably need to catch them very fast before you trade them in"

"Um never mind" Granddad said in a small voice.

"I thought so". Cinereo was now prepared to make his leave, until Huey stopped him again.

"Just out of curiosity" Huey said. "What exactly do you want with Michael Ringer?"

"Oh you could a just a matter of inheritance" Cinereo mused, turning back to look at Huey. "But to perfectly honest, it's quite the happy coincidence that you don't know him. Else…that gun would _not_ have been on safety. Good day"

He flashed another grin to Huey and then walked out the front door. He continued to walk down the lawn, to his limo park in front of the house. The bald man stood at the door of the car and opened it for his boss, while the other two guys were stuffing the dead body in the trunk. Once inside, the bald man followed Cinereo into the call, closing the door behind him. He sat across from Cinereo who pulled out a cigar and placed it into his mouth.

"I want that little shit found. I want him caught. I want him brought to me. And I want him _dead_. In that order. Write that down"

"On it boss" the bald man said.

"I don't see you writing it down now do I?" Cinereo mumbled impatiently, as he tried to light his cigar. "Take out that note book I gave you. Go on. Do it!"

The bald hesitantly pulled out a small note book from inside of his jacket.

"That's right" Cinereo said slowly, like a parent giving a lecture. "That's the one. I didn't give you it to so it could line your jacket. I gave it to you to be organised. It is called being more effective in your work. Now write down what I said and get it done"

"Yes boss. What those other guys. Do we kill them as well?"

Cinereo took a whiff of the cigar and blew out the smoke before responding. "No. Leave them be There's no need to kill them. But keep an eye on that kid with the big hair. He just might be useful"

* * *

After running as fast as he could and making sure he wasn't followed, Michael finally stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He looked around behind him once again to make sure no one was there. He had managed to make it into the town by hitching a ride on the bus. After he got off he had been moving nonstop for almost an hour, trying to get further and further into the city.

He eventually stopped when he came across a large abandoned textile factory that looked it had been out of business for years. Climbing through a hole in the wire fence, he walked inside the building closing the door shut behind and then jabbing it up with a few chairs.

Michael spent the next half hour exploring the building, looking for other exits as well as anything that could be of use. Walking up a flight of stairs, he found a small office. He put his duffel bag down on the floor and set out his sleeping bag. He took a seat on top of the sleeping bag and pulled out some of the food he brought with him. He ate it in silence, hardly making any noise. After he was finished, he put the left overs back in his bag and then simply remained still on the floor, doing absolutely nothing.

It was then some kind of urge struck him and he moved closer to his duffel bag. Michael rummaged through it until he found his lockbox. He slowly pulled it out and held in his lap for a moment. He then took out a small key from his back pocket, and unlocked the lid. He opened the lid to look inside contents of the box with a sad expression before sighing and closing it up once again. He carefully placed the box back inside his bag. For a few minutes he just sat there on the sleeping bag, until finally he laid down on his side and curled himself up into a ball.

"Guess it's just me again" he said quietly.

* * *

Hurray. I made a villain. Feedback is welcomed. If your wondering about his name, Cinereo is latin for grey and Rasistskiy is russian for racist. So his name means grey racist. Grey as in unclear. Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review and peace out.


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